Manfredi and Johnson
by Snowy Stoat
Summary: After the death of their teammates, the penguins Manfredi and Johnson hunt after their new enemy: the criminal mastermind-penguin O'Hara. But what is the reason for Johnson's interest in this mission? Manfredi begins to realise Johnson might be into this mission out of personal motives rather than to save the world.
1. Prologue

_**Author's note.**_

**Hello, everybody. **

**Here's my latest ****fan fiction.**

**It will be mostly about Manfredi and**

**Johnson and some of my OC's. But**

**don't worry, there will be more canon**

**characters in it eventually.**

**Enjoy reading.**

**Snowy Stoat.**

**...**

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Prologue.**

…

_**Johnson's log, January 3 2004.**_

_Today we've returned at the HQ in Alaska. We're tired and filled with grief about what happened. _

_We were able to defeat O'Hara's men, but the battle was long and horrific. One of the most terrible wars I've ever seen. I can't get rid of the terrors I've seen. The blood was everywhere._

_To our great grief, our teammates Kowalski, Rico and Private and our noble leader Skipper did not see the light of the other day. Only Manfredi and I are left. _

_We did not find their bodies, for they could be everywhere, chopped or blown to bits. But we do know that only three survived the horrible battle. Me, Manfredi and O'Hara himself. _

_It is with a heavy heart that I take the role of leadership on my shoulders. Even though we are just two penguins, we will keep our unit alive. We will be here to save the world whenever she needs us. _

_And I promise myself here and now, that I will not rest until I have taken revenge for the death of my beloved friends, my penguin brothers. _

…

Manfredi stopped the cassette, and stared into the darkness of the room. He felt a tear run across his cheek.

At that moment, he heard rumbling in the hallway. Then a silence, and next an angry voice.

"MANFREDIII!"

Manfredi quickly got up from his chair, and opened the door to the hallway.

"What is it, Johnson?" he asked.

On the floor was his teammate but also leader Johnson. Johnson was taller than Manfredi. He had a darker, sharper beak and his head was a little flat. He wore a black eye patch over his left eye. The other eye had a sharp green color. He always had a bitter expression on his face.

Johnson got up from the floor, and picked up a golf ball.

"How many times must I tell you not to play golf indoors!" Johnson snarled. He had a deep, dark voice.

"Not just golf, Johnson," Manfredi said. "minigolf! It's much less violent than normal golf. Private used to be very good at it."

Manfredi was shorter and fatter than Johnson was. His head and beak were rounder, and his eyes were big and blue. He had this innocent look in those bright blue eyes. As if he was only a child.

"I don't care about what kind of golf it is," Johnson said. "you ought to do it outside. And Private is dead, Manfredi. And so are all the others. You know that."

Manfredi sighed. "I do miss them, Johnson." He said. "I just listened to the tape you recorded about the whole war and everything. You speak very beautifully, Johnson."

"I did not give you permission to listen to my personal log," Johnson said.

"I'm sorry, Johnson," Manfredi said. "I just wanted to hear about it. I don't know why."

"We achieve nothing with crying," Johnson said. "now, I want you to clean up this mess you've made. I'll be in my office, and don't you dare bother me!"

"Yes, Johnson." Manfredi said.

He looked while Johnson walked away in the direction of his own office.

The war had marked Manfredi and Johnson both for life. But Manfredi knew that Johnson suffered far more from it than he did.

Manfredi had always been a cheerful and naïve penguin. He had been the second youngest of the team, his cousin Private being a little younger than him. The war hadn't changed him very much. Though sometimes he suddenly felt very sad, and he usually cried when he was thinking about Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private.

To Johnson, the war was yet another happening that destroyed his life a little more.

Manfredi remembered that, many, many years ago, when he himself was still just a child, Johnson was different. He used to be cheerful. Not always, of course, he could be very serious and sometimes grumpy too, but not more than normal penguins. Manfredi could remember that Johnson once could make jokes, he could once smile, he could once laugh with the others.

In those times, there was a woman in the team. A young, pretty penguin called Rebecca. She was a wonderful person: smart, strong, independent but always nice and considerate. Everyone in the team liked her. Manfredi remembered very well that Rebecca used to play games with him often when she was off duty. She had been a very close friend to him.

But no one liked Rebecca as much as Johnson did.

Johnson and Rebecca loved each other. If things hadn't gone the way they had, maybe they would've married.

But everything went wrong at one very unfortunate mission.

Manfredi wasn't there. He was still too young to go on such a dangerous mission. He remembered the worried expressions on the faces of Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, Rebecca and Johnson when they left.

When they returned, Johnson carried the limp body of Rebecca in his flippers. There was blood on her belly and chest. Someone had shot her with a gun several times, as if that person wanted to be sure she was dead.

The others of the team were all wounded. Johnson's wound was the worst of all: his left eye had been completely ripped out of his face.

He did not want anyone to take care of his wound. When they buried Rebecca, it was still bleeding. But it might have been the tears that ran across his cheeks, that made it appear as if there was more blood.

Skipper had ordered Manfredi to go to sleep early.

When Johnson appeared at the breakfast table, he wore an eye patch. He didn't say anything. The only thing that could be read from his face was grief and some sort of anger.

From that day on, Johnson rarely smiled. And if he smiled, it seemed very forced.

He never laughed again, he never told jokes again.

The first two months after Rebecca's death, he had been drinking a lot. But soon he discovered that alcohol could not made him forget his grief. It only made everything worse. So he stopped and went back to work, always with that bitterness on his face.

And the war, where Manfredi and Johnson lost all their other teammates, maybe made it even worse.

Manfredi felt pity for Johnson. All those terrible things that happened to him crushed him. And there was only one thing that could make the load that rested on his shoulders lighter: revenge. And that was where Johnson was after.

Nobody knew who killed Rebecca. The person that killed her wore a disguise.

But Manfredi and Johnson both knew it was because of the criminal penguin O'Hara that Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private died.

And so Johnson looked for a way to kill O'Hara, so he could have some rest after all those years of suffering.

…

The next morning, Johnson called Manfredi to his office.

"What is it, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"I've tracked down the next victim of O'Hara," Johnson said. "There is a guy in a small town in Mexico who owes O'Hara money. We will go there and intercept O'Hara, before he can kill his next victim."

"So we're going to Mexico?" Manfredi said, clapping his flippers enthusiastically.

"Yes," Johnson said. "and don't get so enthusiastic about it. We go there on a mission, not as tourists."

"Aww, come on, Johnson," Manfredi said. "why can't we ever have some fun."

"Because, Manfredi," Johnson said, and Manfredi could see he was trying very hard to stay calm. "this is a _serious_ mission. And on a _serious_ mission, you ought to be _serious._ Understood?"

Manfredi sighed. "Yes, Johnson. I shall start packing than, shall I?"

"Good idea." Johnson said. "But hurry up. We have to be there in time!"


	2. Chapter 1 - Mexico

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 1 – Mexico.**

…

Over the busy marketplace in a small town in Mexico, walked two strange short figures, hidden under huge sombreros. The people, who were too busy with selling and buying, didn't see them. And that was lucky for these two figures, because things would've gone horribly wrong if the humans suddenly saw two penguins in Mexico.

Johnson kept a keen eye on the humans. If anyone saw them, everything would be spoiled.

His emerald green eye was the only thing that could be seen in the shadow of his sombrero.

Manfredi was much more careless, and looked around happily, uncaring that his sombrero did not hide his face enough.

"Oh, look Johnson!" the younger penguins suddenly said. "They sell taco's over there. Can I have one?"

"No!" Johnson said. "were here on a mission, not as tourist."

Manfredi looked at Johnson with shock in his eyes. "But Johnson," he said. "we can't go to Mexico and not eat Mexican food!"

"You said the same about these stupid hats!" Johnson snarled.

"They do come in handy as camouflage." Manfredi said, shrugging. "And they're called sombreros, by the way."

"I don't care." Johnson said. "You're not getting a taco, and that's final."

"Please, Johnson," Manfredi said, looking at Johnson with huge, begging blue eyes.

Johnson rolled his eye. "Fine," he said. "You have five minutes."

Manfredi clapped his flippers enthusiastically and ran away to the tacos.

"Why do I still work with this idiot?" Johnson growled to himself.

He knew he was lying to himself with that. He loved Manfredi like he was his little brother. And he wouldn't want to miss his cheerful, naïve companion for the world.

Suddenly the penguin felt a paw on his shoulder and he quickly turned around, to see a female skunk with a red van standing next to him.

"Hola, siñor." She said with a heavy Mexican accent. "Can I help you with something?"

"No." Johnson, crossing his flippers over his chest.

"Are you sure?" the skunk said.

"Quite sure, miss." Johnson said, slightly annoyed.

"You look like you are looking for something," the skunk said.

"I don't need any help, miss," Johnson said, now very annoyed. "I'm just waiting here for my companion, and I'd like to be left alone."

"I am certain I can help you with something, siñor." the skunk insisted.

Johnson rolled his eye. She really was a tacky one.

"Maybe you are looking for a certain someone?" the skunk asked.

Johnson's annoyed face softened a little.

"Now you that you mention it," he said. "I'm looking for this fellow here."

He took a picture from under his sombrero. It was the only picture he could find of the next victim of O'Hara. He did not know his name. He only knew it was a shabby but young tabby cat with yellow eyes.

The skunk looked at the picture for a few moments. Then she nodded.

"I know him, siñor penguin," she said. "He's Antonio. He plays guitar in the pub called Siete Ratòn. It is right over there, at the end of this road."

Johnson hid the picture under his hat again. "Thank you, miss." He said.

"Anytime, siñor one-eyed penguin." The skunk said with a big smile.

Johnson turned his back to her, and shouted: "Manfredi! Come here!"

Manfredi appeared quite quickly, with half a taco in his flipper.

"What is it, Johnson?" he said with his beak full.

"We're going." Johnson just said snappy.

When they turned to walk to the pub at the end of the road, Johnson noticed that the female skunk had disappeared.

There were quite a lot of animals in the pub, but there wasn't much noise. Most animals were silently playing games like poker, or listening to the soft guitar music.

"What do we do now, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"Ssh!" Johnson said. "not so loud. We're supposed to blend in. Follow me and don't say or touch anything. Just act like you feel at home here."

"Okay, Johnson," Manfredi said.

He followed his companion through the half-darkened room. Nobody really paid attention to the two penguins. They just continued minding their own business.

Johnson stopped at the bar.

"What will it ne, Siñor?" the barkeeper asked.

"One tequila, amigo." Johnson said. He looked over his shoulder at Manfredi. "And a lemonade for my young friend here." He added.

The barkeeper turned around and got them the drinks. When he put a glass of simple tequila in front of Johnson, the one-eyed penguins casually asked: "Is that singer Antonio going to play anything today?"

"Why do you ask?" the barkeeper asked. "Do you know him?"

"I've heard of him," Jahnson said.

"Well, don't expect anything great from that guy," the barkeeper said. "he's a lousy musician. He never gets much glory for his songs. This is the only place where he's allowed to play. He's banned from all other pubs and music halls because of his lousy music."

"I bet he doesn't have much cash then, does he?" Johnson said.

"Not at all," the barkeeper said. "I let him work here out of pity, mostly. He's a nice fellow, and to see him eating from a garbage can just breaks my heart, amigo."

"Another of those irresponsible types," Johnson muttered to himself. "it always happens to them, doesn't it?"

"I'm sorry, amigo?" the barkeeper asked.

Johnson shook his head. "Nothing," he said. He put some money on the bar.

"Thank you, siñor," the barkeeper said. "ah, look. That there is Antonio."

He pointed at the stage, and Johnson's eye followed the direction of the finger. The shabby cat from the picture appeared in the stage. He had a guitar in his paw. He seemed uncertain.

Antonio nervously sat down, cleared his throat a few times and started playing. He was so nervous that he kept making mistakes, and his voice was trebling when he sang.

Not that the audience cared. They were still minding their own business.

"That poor man," Manfredi said. "life must be very hard for him."

"No time for pity, Manfredi," Johnson snarled. "we need to look for O'Hara now."

"But how do we recognise him?" Manfredi asked.

"I'll take care of that," Johnson said. He leaned against the bar, drank his tequila and listened to Antonio's lousy music. He looked completely natural, as if he belonged there. But Manfredi could see his green eye spying across the room, looking for anything suspicious.

"Have you seen him already?" Manfredi asked. He felt a little nervous.

"Sssh!" Johnson hissed at him.

"Sorry, Johnson," Manfredi whispered.

And then is happened. Antonio's song was finished, and he left the stage. And at the moment that he left, a dark figure stood up from his table. He wore a had that made a dark shadow on his face. In the dim light, Johnson could see something that looked like a knife.

"Code red," he said to Manfredi.

At the same time, the penguins took off their hats and grabbed the weapons that they had hidden in them.

Everybody looked at them. The dark figure knew his cover had been blown. He ran towards the stage as fast as he could. Johnson, with a gun in his flipper, followed him. Manfredi, who's weapon was just a baseball bat since he couldn't shoot a gun, followed. But he wasn't so certain of himself as Johnson.

The figure disappeared behind the curtains. They heard Antonio scream.

"Oh no you don't!" Johnson snarled. He pulled the curtain from the ceiling, to see the dark figure holding his knife on Antonio's throat.

"Let him go or I'll shoot," Johnson said. "and I won't miss, trust me."

"Shoot, and I will kill this cat," the figure said.

Johnson's eye widened in surprise. "You… you're not O'Hara," he said.

The penguin in front of him took off his hat and cloak. He was much bigger than O'Hara, Johnson noticed now. He had a scar on the top of his head, as if someone had broke his skull once. He was most certainly not O'Hara.

"I am Otto," he said. "O'Hara is my master."

"So, he has new henchmen, is it?" Johnson said.

"No new henchmen," Otto said. "Just some survivors of the war."

"There were no survivors," Johnson said. "just me and Manfredi. And O'Hara."

"You're wrong," Otto said. "True, I was almost dead. But I got better. But now we have a different matter to attend to." He turned his attention back to Antonio. "You owe my master a lot of money, cat." He said to the singer. "And you know what happens when you don't pay."

Antonio started blabbering in Spanish. He sounded terrified.

"Johnson, do something!" Manfredi said. He felt pity for the cat.

Johnson pointed his gun at Otto and shot.

Too late. There was a flash of light, reflected from Otto's knife. There was a scream, and next Antonio fell on the ground. He was dead.

Manfredi gasped. Then he looked at Otto.

Johnson's bullet had hit him in the shoulder. But he seemed strong enough to grab his hat and cloak and run away. Johnson threw his gun away and followed the penguin.

Manfredi kneeled next to Antonio.

"Poor guy," he said. "he must have been very scared."

"That's the life," one of the men in the pub said.

Johnson returned, panting and sweaty from the running.

"I lost him," he growled. "for a wounded guy he runs fast."

"Oh, Johnson," Manfredi said. "it wasn't your fault, you know. Your flippers were tight."

Johnson cleared his throat.

"We have to leave, Manfredi," he said. "we have nothing to do here anymore."

Manfredi stood up. "Okay, Johnson."

"We'll find a place to sleep for the night," Johnson said as they left the pub. "tomorrow we take the plane to Alaska."

"Yes, Johnson," Manfredi said.

Suddenly, Johnson felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you need a place to sleep, Siñor?" a voice said.

Johnson turned around and saw the female skunk that he met earlier that day.

"Oh, look who it is," he said, not exactly pleased to see her.

"I know an empty house where you could spend the night," the skunk said. "all the hotels are full. Shall I take you and your friend there?"

Johnson and Manfredi gave each other a look.

"Alright then," Johnson said. But he thought to himself that he would keep an eye on this skunk. She wasn't what she appeared to be."


	3. Chapter 2 - back to HQ

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 2 – Back to HQ.**

…

_Johnson's log._

_We were most unfortunately now able to save the cat Antonio from O'Hara. We did find out that O'Hara still has at least one of his old henchmen. His name is Otto. When we're back at the HQ in Alaska, I will do some research about him._

_In the meantime, a strange skunk lady has given us a place to sleep tonight. I'm not sure what she is, but she isn't just a random skunk. I can feel is in my bones: there is something she wants from us. Or maybe something that she wants to give to us. I'm not sure on which side she is, but I'm keeping my eye on her. I can't be too carefull._

…

When Johnson woke up in the morning, he noticed that the skunk lady was standing next to him.

"what do you want?" Johnson asked.

"Nothing, amigo," the lady said. "I just came to see if you were safe."

"Well, I am perfectly fine," Johnson said. "and it's time for us to go. Manfredi!"

Manfredi woke up and rubbed his eyes. "I had such a strange dream, Johnson," he said. "I was…."

"Not now, Manfredi," Johnson snarled. "It's time to go."

"Oh, already?" Manfredi said.

"Yes," Johnson said. He picked up his gun and his head. Then he turned to the skunk lady.

"Thank you for your help, miss," he said. "but we need to leave immediately."

"Goodbye, amigo," the skunk lady said.

Johnson walked away, and Menfredi followed. But at the door, Johnson suddenly stopped and turned around. "Actually, I never caught your name," he said.

The skunk lady just smiled. "Isabella," she said.

Johnson nodded, and left the house.

"Nice to meet you, Isabella," Manfredi said, and then he followed his companion.

As they walked through the streets, Johnson said to Manfredi: "When we get home, do some research on that woman. I want to know who she is."

"But Johnson," Manfredi said. "there are so many women in the world with the name 'Isabella'."

"But not all of them are skunks," Johnson said. "and not all of them live in this village. I want your report on what you could find about her tomorrow morning at least. Understood?"

"Yes, Johnson." Manfredi sighed.

…

The next morning Manfredi came to Johnson's office. He had to wake up early to do his research on Isabella, but he finally did it.

In his office, Johnson was very busy with typing on his laptop. (actually is was an old MacBook that humans threw away after is was broken. Kowalski and Johnson had repaired it together, and it worked perfectly since then. )

The penguin had black circles around his eye, and on his desk stood a lot of coffee-cups.

"Johnson?" Manfredi said. "You didn't work all night long, did you?"

"I must find out where O'Hara is," Johnson said. "I must…"

"Johnson, please," Manfredi said. "I know you want to find O'Hara, and I know why. I don't like him either, because he killed our penguin brothers… But it's not worth it. You must take care of yourself, Johnson. Please. I don't want to you fall back to…" he looked at the old half whine bottle that Johnson used for his pens and pencils. "… you know."

He looked at Johnson again.

The one-eyed penguin shook his head. "Those days are over, Manfredi," he said. "I swear."

"But you must think of yourself too, Johnson," Manfredi continued. "you have to rest."

Johnson closed his laptop. "Do you have the report?" He asked.

"What report, Johnson?" Manfedi asked.

"About Isabella," Johnson said, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, of course," Manfredi said. "well, there's not really something to report."

"What do you mean?" Johnson said in a low voice, and he began to look really angry.

"It's just that… well, it seems like Isabella doesn't exist." Manfredi said.

The look in Johnson's eye changed from angry to interested. "Really?" he said.

"Yes, Johnson," Manfredi said. "I could find nothing about her. Nothing at all. Not even a picture."

"That's interesting," Johnson said. "So I was right, she is not what she appears to be."

"What do you think she was, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"I'm not sure," Johnson answered. "she could have been a criminal… or a spy. I only wonder if she was on our side, or on O'Hara's side."

"Maybe not either of them," Manfredi said. "maybe she was just neutral."

"Maybe," Johnson said. "but then she wouldn't have bothered about us. There's something she wants. I don't know what. But I'll find out."

"Maybe you should take a nap, Johnson?" Manfredi said. "you could use some sleep."

"I have to do research," Johnson said. "I have no time for sleeping."

"Please, Johnson," Manfredi said. "I will continue you work, alright? But please take a nap."

Johnson looked into Manfredi's big, blue, begging eyes. He was indeed mighty tired, he couldn't deny that. He had been working all night long.

The penguin sighed.

"Alright then," he said, and he stood up. "you can use my laptop, Manfredi."

"Alright, Johnson," Manfredi said. "sleep well."

Johnson silently left the office and went to his bedroom. He lie down on his bed, and closed his eyes.

He was so tired that he fell asleep almost immediately.

…

_The sound of a fight. Screaming. Guns. Knifes. Even a chainsaw, probably Rico's. _

_There were explosions. There was blood. _

_Johnson had nothing but a long stick to defend himself. He had lost his gun in the fight._

_He looked around._

_Rico was chasing one of the criminals with a chainsaw. Skipper was in a flipper-to-flipper fight with another enemy. _

"_Johnson, look out," someone said._

_Johnson could duck right in time. A bullet hit the wall behind him. _

_He looked at the person who had warned him._

_Even at this moment, with sweat on her forehead and a bleeding scratch on her cheek, Rebecca was still beautiful. _

_She had a big gun in het flippers, but she smiled at Johnson._

"_That was a close one," she said._

_Johnson smiled back. "Thanks for warning me, Reb." He said._

"_I wouldn't want to date a penguin with a hole in his head, would I?" Rebecca said jokingly. _

_Johnson laughed._

_He loved her sense of humor. He actually just loved everything about her. _

_He looked into her brown eyes. And she looked back. _

_They had to fight, but they didn't. It was almost as if they were feeling what was going to happen._

_And suddenly, it happened. There was the sound of a machine gun. Rebecca's own gun fell on the ground. She grabbed her stomach. _

_Johnson looked in shock how his beloved Rebecca fell against the wall and slowly sank to the ground. There was blood on het belly and chest._

"_No!" Johnson cried out. He ran to his girlfriend and kneeled next to her. _

"_Reb!" He said. "Rebecca, look at me."_

_He took her face in his flippers. He tried to look into her eyes, but they were just staring at him with an empty gaze. He checked her pulse, but there was nothing to check. She was dead._

"_No!" Johnson said. "No, Rebecca, don't be dead, please…"_

_Then he looked up. And on a pipe near the sealing of the building, he saw a shadow. It was a masked figure. Probably a penguin. He was short and seemed chubby. He had a machine gun in one flipper, and a revolver in the other._

"_It was you," Johnson growled, even though he knew the masked penguin couldn't hear him. "You killed my Rebecca."_

_Then the masked penguin pointed his revolver at Johnson, and shot._

_The bullet almost missed. Almost._

_Johnson felt a pain in his left eye. A terrible pain. He screamed. _

_He didn't know where the bullet had gone, but he knew that his eye was gone. _

_But sometimes it was as if he could see one thing still very clearly with his left eye: Rebecca's lips, blood covered body. And that shadow of the masked penguin._

…

Johnson woke up with a scream.

He had had that dream so often. Or actually it was a memory. A memory of his beloved Rebecca's death.

He took a photo from under his pillow. On the picture was a female penguin with long feathers no her head in a ponytail. And keen, brown eyes. He looked into the camera with a cheeky yet friendly smile on her beak.

Johnson looked at her, and suddenly tears rolled over his cheek. He held the photo to his chest. "My sweet Rebecca," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

And with the picture of Rebecca on his chest and the tears in his eye, he fell asleep again.

He didn't dream anymore.


	4. Chapter 3 - the e-mail

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 3 – the e-mail.**

…

There was knock on the door.

Johnson opened his eye. He was still lying on his bed with Rebecca's photo on his chest. Quickly he hid it under his pillow, and he looked at the alarm clock next to his bed.

He had slept the whole day.

"Come in!" he finally said.

The door slowly opened and Manfredi came in.

"Johnson," he said.

"Ah, Manfredi," Johnson interrupted him. "did you find out more about O'Hara's hiding place?"

Manfredi first shook his head, then nodded, and then shook his head again. He looked confused.

"What is it?" Johnson said. "spit it out, soldier."

"You've got an e-mail, Johnson," Manfredi finally said.

Johnson grunted. "Is that all?" he aksed.

"No, that's not all," Manfredi said. "just read the e-mail, Johnson. Then you'll understand."

So Johnson stood up from his bed and followed Manfredi to his office. Johnson's laptop was open, and the light of the screen was the only light in the room.

Johnson sat down, and turned his laptop towards him.

The e-mail was opened on full screen.

_See attached file._

That was the only thing that was to be read.

Manfredi and Johnson gave each other a look. Johnson then turned to the computer again, and opened the file.

"Oh!" Manfredi said immediately. "That's the Eiffel Tower, in Paris."

"I can see that." Johnson snarled. He frowned. "But what does it have to do with us? What does it mean? And who send us this e-mail?"

"Look at the e-mail address," Manfredi said.

Johnson clicked the picture of the Eiffel Tower away, and looked at the e-mail address that was used to send them this e-mail.

_AZS -hotmail .com_

Johnson and Manfredi gave each other another look.

"Never heard of that address before," Manfredi said.

"I wonder what 'AZS' means," Johnson said. He wrote the e-mail address in his notebook.

Manfredi stared at the wall, thinking. Then he suddenly had an idea. "Maybe this person wants us to go to Paris?" he said.

Johnson raised an eyebrow. "What?" he said.

"Well, it makes sense," Manfredi said. "why else would some mysterious person send us an e-mail like that?"

Johnson looked at his laptop for a while, thinking.

"It could be a trap," he said.

"But maybe someone in Paris can help us?" Manfredi said. "maybe someone wants to help us catch O'Hara. We can't miss a chance like that, Johnson."

"You just want to go to Paris." Johnson said.

Manfredi blushed a little. "Well, that too," he said. "but really, Johnson. It could help us to find O'Hara."

Johnson sighed. "I will think about it, Manfredi," he said. "first I want to do research about this 'AZS' person, whoever he is."

"Don't forget to go to bed, Johnson," Manfredi said, a little worried. "you have to sleep, too. You can't stay up all night again."

Johnson sighed again. "Don't worry, Manfredi," he said. "I'll be fine. Now go."

Manfredi nodded. "Yes, Johnson." He said.

He left the room and began walking to his own bedroom.

Johnson never took very good care of himself. He always thought of his missions first, and taking care of himself came later. He had been that way ever since Skipper, Kowalski, Rice and Private died. Manfredi knew his friend wanted revenge. He had been scarred for life. Not only from the outside, but from the inside. There were deep scratches in his soul, and they never seemed to heal.

Manfredi felt so sorry for his friend. Johnson was like a big brother to him, and he would hate to lose him.

But Johnson was his superior. He couldn't give Johnson any orders. He was the one who was supposed to take orders from Johnson, not the other way around.

So what could he do? Johnson did whatever he wanted.

If only Rebecca was still alive.

Manfredi sighed deeply.

…

"_Hey, Manfredi, what are you doing?"_

_Manfredi dropped the bowl of cookies as he heard the voice behind him. He turned around._

"_Oh, Rebecca," he said. "P-please don't tell Skipper."_

_Rebecca smiled at the little penguin. "About what?" she asked._

"_T-that I was stealing cookies," Manfredi said. He felt ashamed. "I was only going to take one, really. Nobody would have noticed, I…"_

_Rebecca looked around. "Cookies?" She asked. "what cookies?"_

_Manfredi frowned, but then he understood. "Thanks, Rebecca," he said._

_Rebecca kneeled down and helped Manfredi to put all the cookies back in the bowl. _

"_Don't eat too much," she said at the young penguin, smiling. "or you'll get fat like Rico."_

"_But Rico has all of the weapons in his stomach," Manfredi said. "then it's quite obvious why he looks fat, right?"_

_Rebecca giggled. "I know," she said. "how do all those things fit in his stomach? No wonder he can't talk."_

"_Is that really why he can't talk?" Manfredi asked._

"_Nah," Rebecca said. "but almost. His vocal cords are badly damaged by all those things that he barfs up. I mean, would you speak normally if you just barfed up a chainsaw?"_

_They giggled._

"_And of course he's just plain crazy," Rebecca added. "but we all are a little."_

"_Really?" Manfredi asked._

"_Sure," Rebecca said. "look at Kowalski, with his insane inventions. Or even Skipper, with his pure soldier-beliefs. I think he believes we're still in the time of the cold war. And how he talks about hippies… well…"_

"_Am I crazy too?" Manfredi asked._

"_Maybe not crazy," Rebecca said. "but you're not an ordinary penguin. And you never will be. You belong with us. We violate every rule of nature. But it's okay." The patted Manfredi on his head. "It's great to be extraordinary."_

…

Rebecca had always been so nice to him. Manfredi still missed her a lot. But he knew that Johnson missed her even more. She had been everything to him. And now that she was gone, and the rest of the team too, he had nothing left.

Manfredi could only imagine how terribly lonely and sad Johnson must feel.

But Johnson at least had Manfredi. And Manfredi knew he would never ever leave his friend behind.

'No penguin gets left behind', Skipper always said.

And Manfredi had decided to always follow that rule.


	5. Chapter 4 - We'll always have Paris

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 4 – We'll always have Paris.**

…

"Remind me again why we are here?" Johnson said, and he sounded extremely grumpy.

He and Manfredi were standing next to the door of one of the railway stations in Paris.

"The e-mail said so…" Manfredi started. Johnson, however, interrupted him.

"The e-mail, the e-mail," he growled. "ever thought of the possibility that it was a joke? Some sort of prank? It was probably a group of teenage boys who thought they were funny. Let's just get away from here."

"But we just got here," Manfredi said. "I want to see the Eiffel Tower… and the Arc de Triomphe, and the Notre Dame, and the Louvre, and…"

"Manfredi!" Johnson interrupted him again. "We are not here as tourists, understood?!"

Manfredi sighed. "But, Johnson…" he said.

"No buts," Johnson said. "we're going back to the HQ immediately. I don't want to waste any more time here."

"But Johnson," Manfredi said. "we never get to have any fun. I think a holiday would do you much good. You're so stressed, and maybe here you can learn to relax a little."

"I said no buts!" Johnson snarled.

"But you could use some rest," Manfredi said.

"I don't want to rest," Johnson said. "I won't rest until I have O'Hara's head served on a silver plate, do you understand?!"

Manfredi gasped when he heard that. He took a step back and stared at Johnson with his big, blue eyes. He couldn't mean that, could he? Johnson was a penguin with a good heart, he would never even think of something that cruel. Would he? For the first time, Manfredi felt a twinge of fear for Johnson. The anger in his green eye scared him.

Johnson looked back at Manfredi, and saw the fear. Suddenly, he felt ashamed.

"Manfredi, I'm so sorry," he said. "I didn't mean it…." That wasn't entirely true. At the moment he said those terrible words, he meant it. But now he knew he would never do that.

"I-I known, Johnson," Manfredi said, stuttering.

"You know I wouldn't do anything to harm you," Johnson said. "You are my penguin brother, remember? And no penguin gets left behind. Never."

Now Manfredi smiled. "You are right Johnson," he said.

"Well, well," a voice next to them said at that moment. "That's something you don't see every day. Two penguins in Paris."

Manfredi and Johnson looked at the direction of the voice, and saw a white cat standing next to them. She had long hair and red eyes. Her tail was unusually thick.

Johnson frowned as he looked at the cat's face. He had this feeling he knew her. Like he had seen her before.

But where?

"Who are you?" Johnson asked.

"My name is Barbara," the cat said. "and you?"

"Manfredi…" Manfredi said.

"Classified!" Johnson said.

"… and Johnson," Manfredi finished.

"Manfredi!" Johnson snarled.

"Manfredi and Johnson?" the white cat said. "Funny names for penguins."

"What business is it of yours?" Johnson said unfriendly.

"Now, now," Barbara said. "calm down. Are you from the police?"

Johnson and Manfredi gave each other a look.

"Sort of," Johnson said then.

"Great," Barbara said. "Then you must be here for the house?"

"What house?" Johnson asked.

"The house that was blown up a few days ago," Barbara said. "the police here in Paris won't to anything about it. But if you ask me, there's something fishy about all this, if you get what I mean."

"Blown up?" Johnson asked. He now sounded very interested. "Bu who?"

"How am I supposed to know that?" Barbara asked. "I'm not a cop."

Johnson scratched under his eye patch while he thought. "Take us there." He said then.

Barbara nodded. She led the two penguins through the streets of Paris. They made sure no humans could see them.

The house was a rather small one in a small, dark alley. The rest of the houses were all empty.

"Well, this couldn't have been terrorists," Johnson said. "if it were, they would have blown up something like the Eiffel Tower. Or the Notre Dame."

"Thank God they didn't," Manfredi said.

Johnson looked at what was left of the house.

"Hm," he said. "I wonder what purpose they had to blow up this house. Maybe some enemy of them lived here?"

Barbara shook her head. "As far as I know, this house has always been empty. Just like the rest of the houses here." She said.

"But someone did live here," Johnson said. "I see remains of chairs and something that looks like a computer."

"That's strange," Barbara said. She took a step forward.

"Don't move!" Johnson said. "there might still be DNA of the ones that lived here in this place. Maybe it can help us."

Barbara stood where she was, while Manfredi took some gadgets from his backpack and gave them to Johnson.

"What are those for?" Barbara asked.

"Finding DNA," Johnson said as he put on some weird glasses.

"I never saw them before." Barbara said.

"Our scientist made them himself," Manfredi said. "there's nobody in the world like Kowalski he can do anything."

"Interesting," Barbara said. "sound like a guy I'd like to meet someday."

Manfredi now sighed. "I'm sorry," he said. "but Kowalski dies some time ago."

"Oh, never mind," Barbara said. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"It's okay," Manfredi said.

"Aha!" Johnson suddenly said. He picked up something and out it in a small plastic bag.

"What is it, Johnson?" Manfredi asked. "What did you find."

"A piece of a feather," Johnson said. "It's not much, but maybe it's a clue. We just need to find a place where I can analyze it."

"You can go to the police's laboratory," Barbara said. "My cousin works there, he gave me the keys."

Johnson looked at her for a while. Could he trust her? But then he decided.

"Take us there," he said.

…

Manfredi looked around the lab. There were many little bottles and glasses, and he was sure he wasn't allowed to touch any of them. On the walls were different pictures of different types of blood splashes.

"Are you sure we are allowed to be in here?" Manfredi asked.

"Yes," Barbara said. "My cousin works here, remember?"

"Yes, but…" Manfredi said.

"Sssh!" Johnson hissed, while he was studying the DNA sample under the microscope, and then typed something on the computer.

Manfredi and Barbara watched in silence as Johnson worked.

"I knew it!" Johnson suddenly screamed out.

"What is it, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"The DNA belonged to O'Hara," Johnson said. "That empty house was one of his secret hideouts. Apparently he left and destroyed the lair so that nobody would know he was ever there."

"But he didn't count on Manfredi and Johnson!" Manfredi said, clapping his flippers happily.

For the first time in so long, Manfredi heard Johnson laugh. "We are on his trail, Manfredi," he said, waving the DNA sample around. "we finally are catching up!"

"And that thanks to you, Barbara," Manfredi said. "Barbara?"

But the white cat had disappeared.

Manfredi looked around. "Where did she go?"

Johnson frowned. He still knew he had seen Barbara before. There was something strange about her. But what?

And why had she gone?

He felt like he had missed something. He thought for a while. And then he realized: Barbara had said that she got the key from the Police laboratory from her cousin who worked there. But she had opened the door with a skeleton key, one that fit on all doors.

Could she have been lying? And if so, why?

"Strange." Johnson muttered.

"What did you say, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

Johnson shook his head. "Nothing," he said. "We have to go back to the house. Maybe we will find some more clues."

"Allright, Johnson," Manfredi said, and he followed his friend back to O'Hara's destroyed lair.


	6. Chapter 5 - Scars

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 5 – Scars.**

….

_Johnson's log._

_We now know that O'Hara had a lair in Paris, but he unfortunately destroyed it. Of course he is not stupid and he left no evidence of where he went after Paris. I only know that he was there. Asking the locals was no solution, and we're not much further at the moment. _

_But, I did find a half-destroyed hard disk drive of one of O'Hara's computers. Maybe it can help us. I am taking it back to the HQ in Alaska for further investigations. _

_In the meantime, I'm letting Manfredi do some research for the strange cat Barbara. She is the second mysterious person that we met on this mission to find O'Hara. Could it be that Barbara and the skunk Isabella both work for the same business? _

_Also, I am still trying to find out who send us the mysterious e-mail. There are many unanswered questions._

_It drives me crazy._

…

"Johnson?" Manfredi asked as he entered Johnson's office.

Johnson was trying to repair the hard disk drive. There was a deep frown on his forehead. Without looking up, he said: "What is it, Manfredi?"

"Any luck?" Manfredi asked.

Johnson sighed and put down his tools. "No." he said. "And you? Any news?"

"Well, it's the same story over again," Manfredi said.

"What do you mean?" Johnson asked.

"It's the same as with Isabella," Manfredi said. "there is no albino cat named Barbara in Paris. It's like she never existed."

"That can't be coincidence," Johnson said. "Isabella and Barbara must have something to do with each other. And I just felt like I knew this Barbara."

"I didn't," Manfredi said.

Johnson had to force himself not to snarl at Manfredi again. He sighed deeply.

"I wish Kowalski was here," he said. "he could fix this in no time, and we would have O'Hara captured in a few days. I'm beginning to realize that…"

He paused.

"What, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"…that we are nothing without them," Johnson continued. "Just look at me, Manfredi. I'm just a shadow of what I was. I was once a brave, strong, young penguin, Manfredi. Now look at me. I'm a failure."

Manfredi instantly dropped the papers he was holding.

"Oh no, Johnson!" he said. "You are never a failure! You are still a great penguin, and I will always look up to you."

Johnson didn't seem to believe him. He rubbed his forehead with his flipper, and sighed.

"What's the use?" he said. "I can't eat, I can't sleep. I can't even think clearly. All I can think of is O'Hara. I have to get him. I feel like I'll perish if I don't."

"But Johnson," Manfredi said. "good things never come from revenge. Just…. Just look at Sweeney Todd. Do you remember that story? Sweeney Todd killed hundreds of people out of revenge, and in the end he accidentally killed his wife and after that he himself was killed."

"Leave me," Johnson said.

"What?" Manfredi asked.

"Leave me, please," Johnson said. "I need to be alone."

Manfredi looked at his friend, and was the tears in his green eye. He nodded. "Yes, Johnson."

He quickly picked up the papers, and left the room.

Left alone in the half-darkened room, Johnson hid his face in his flippers and cried. He felt like he was climbing up a hill with a backpack full of stones, but all he did was fall down again.

What could he do? Was he turning insane?

"If only you were here, Rebecca," he said. "I need you now more than ever. Why did you have to go?"

Suddenly, it was like it turned colder in the room. Johnson's eye widened, and he looked around. There were no windows in this room, because the HQ in Alaska was underground. Where did the cold come from?

"Manfredi?" Johnson asked. "Is that you?"

But there was no answer.

Johnson felt uncomfortable. And yet he didn't want the cold to go away, he didn't know why.

He closed his eye.

…

"_Reb?"_

_Johnson sighed. "Reb, I don't have time for games now."_

_Someone covered his eyes from behind his back. "Guess who?"_

"_Rebecca!"_

"_Okay, okay," Rebecca said. "no need to shout at me. Why are you so grumpy?"_

"_I just need to go to work, that's all," Johnson said._

"_Again?" Rebacca asked. "You already have the highest rank in this unit, next to Skipper. Why would you need to work even harder? Or are you afraid Kowalski will take your place if you don't prove yourself?"_

"_I am just doing my duty," Johnson said._

"_So am I," Rebecca said. "at the moment, I'm doing my duty as your friend. Take a break, Johnson."_

_Johnson looked at her. Friend? Did she say friend? Was that how she saw him? Because he saw her as so much more. He knew he loved her like he had never loved anyone._

"_Reb…" Johnson said._

"_Yes?" Rebecca said._

_Johnson opened his mouth, but no words came out. He blushed._

_Rebecca smiled at him. "How about we both take a break," she said. "and go to the town tonight?"_

"_You mean… on a date?" Johnson asked, a little nervous._

"_Why not?" Rebecca said._

_Johnson looked at his office, and then at Rebecca._

"_Sounds great," he said then._

…

Johnson remembered it all so well.

Rebecca had always been like that. She was always that sort of penguin who said exactly what she was thinking, and wasn't shy about it at all. That was one of the many things Johnson loved about her.

But she had always been the one who was able ta talk him out of things. When something bothered him, he only had to talk to Rebecca, and he would feel better in no time.

If she was here now, he would probably feel much better, too. But she wasn't, and she never would.

Johnson felt empty.

Life without Rebecca was only half a life to him. He knew the wounds that her death had left in his soul would never heal. He would always carry the scars.

He sighed, and finally got back to work. He tried to put the hard disk drive in his own laptop. First nothing happened, but then suddenly…

Johnson stared at the screen of his laptop. Things like this never happened, but somehow all he saw was a picture.

He knew O'Hara was a smart penguin. He could probably do anything with hard disk drives…

It was as if he had left them a clue. Did he want them to find him? Was he playing a game with them?

On the picture was a landscape completely made of ice. Was it the north-pole? Or perhaps Antartica?

What did it mean?

Johnson felt like O'Hara was playing a cat and mouse game with him. But who here was the cat, and who was the mouse?

Johnson send the picture to the printer in the hallway. He had to keep that with him.

Just in case.


	7. Chapter 6 - Mission disaster

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 6 – Mission disaster.**

…

_Mandredi's diary. _

_I am worried about Johnson. He seems stressed, and he has been acting strange lately. I know he is still very sad about the deaths of Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. And he's still not over Rebecca's death. _

_I am worried that this quest for revenge might make him lose his mind. That's why I decided to create a distraction for my penguin brother. I think a normal food-mission might take his mind off things. Tomorrow we're going to the fish market to get new food supplies._

_I really hope it will help him to forget about O'Hara. _

…

"Can I drive?" Manfredi asked.

"No!" Johnson snarled.

They were sitting in the small car that Kowalski build from a toy car and some of his own inventions. It was exactly the right size for Penguins. Also, because it was so small, it was easy for them to avoid accidents and of course to hid when they saw humans. After all, humans weren't allowed to know about their secret unit.

Or whatever was left of it, Manfredi thought as he looked at Johnson, who looked pale and skinny. His eyes seemed to lie deeper in his face than normally.

How could all of this happen to Johnson, the penguin Manfredi had always looked up to?

Johnson had always been the one who took care of Manfredi. Now it was almost the other way around. Manfredi felt responsible for his friend.

They reached the fish market, and Johnson parked the car under behind a trash can.

Johnson explained to Manfredi what strategy they would use, and then they got to work.

Manfredi and Johnson were both trained very well in many techniques, including stealth. However, Manfredi was still a little clumsy. Sometimes, the humans even almost saw him.

Johnson, on the other hand, was a master in stealth. He was like a shadow, jumping from shelter to shelter without ever being heard or seen.

Another thing Manfredi admired about Johnson.

As they were collecting fish, Johnson couldn't help but notice something. It wasn't something he could hear or see. It was something he sensed. Almost as if someone was holding a knife against his back. He looked around, but saw nothing.

He looked at Manfredi, who was taking a break on the roof of a van. He was eating a fish tail that he had found, and seemed perfectly at ease.

Johnson decided not to disturb him. He deserved some rest.

He would find out what this strange feeling was himself, Johnson decided. He jumped off the crate he was standing on, and walked around the market place a few times. There was nothing o be seen, but still the one-eyed penguin didn't feel comfortable.

There was something. He knew there was.

A sudden sound made him jump up. He immediately jumped in a defensive position in case he was being attacked.

But then he saw it was just a black cat who ran away with a fish in her mouth.

Johnson already wanted to walk on. But suddenly he stopped.

"Hey, you there!" he yelled to the cat.

The black cat stopped and looked at him.

"Yes, you!" Johnson said, as he ran towards her. "stay where you are."

The black cat put down the fish, and stood on her back legs.

Johnson stopped right in front of her.

"You," he pointed at her with his flipper. "I know you."

The cat raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" she said. "I never met any penguin in my life!"

Johnson looked at her. He had never known a black cat in person. But still there was something familiar about this cat.

He looked into her eyes. They were green like his eye.

"Who are you?" Johnson asked.

"Why do you want to know?" the cat asked.

"I… am from the police," Johnson lied.

The cat rolled her green eyes. "I'm Tilly." She said. "can I go now? My fish is getting cold."

Johnson looked at her, and then at the fish.

"It was already cold when you sole it," he said.

"Who said I stole it?" the cat asked.

"I know you did," Johnson said. "don't deny it."

"Well you and your friend are stealing, too," Tilly said, picking up her fish. "and you are stealing much more than just one fish. Bye!"

And with those words, she ran away.

Johnson frowned. "How did she know about Manfredi?" he asked himself aloud. "and about our food-mission?"

He scratched under his eyepatch. There was definitely something strange going on here.

Suddenly, he felt a cold breeze go through his feathers. He looked around. He became dizzy for a moment, and then he heard someone screaming: "Johnson!"

Johnson's eye widened. "Reb?!" he cried out? "Rebecca?!"

Then there was a loud noise, screaming, things flying through the air.

And then darkness.

…

"_John?" Rebecca said, as she turned a page of the magazine she was reading. "do you believe in the supernatural?"_

"_What do you mean?" Johnson asked, as he put his book ('Moby Dick') down._

"_I mean ghosts and such things," Rebecca said. "there are a lot of pictures of ghosts in this magazine."_

_Johnson laughed. "Oh, Reb," he said. "you know it's all nonsense, don't you?"_

"_How do you know?" Rebecca asked. "have you ever had any proof that ghosts don't exist?"_

_Johnson had to think about that for a while. But then he said: "But you don't have any proof that ghosts exist either."_

"_Yes I do," Rebecca said, and she showed him the page with the pictures of the ghosts._

_Johnson sighed. "Rebecca," he said. "maybe you shouldn't read magazines like this anymore. They will only scare you."_

"_Ha!" Rebecca said. "scare me? I'm not scared of a bunch of dead people. Or penguins. Or any other animal. If anyone should be scared here, it's you."_

"_Why me?" Johnson asked._

"_Because, dear Johnny," Rebecca said. "You know ghosts don't like it if you don't believe in them. Now they will come and haunt you."_

_Johnson frowned at the nickname 'Johnny'. But then he laughed. He knew Rebecca was only teasing him. _

_He would still love her, no matter how much she teased him._

…

"Johnson! Johnson, wake up!"

Johnson slowly opened his eye. "Rebecca?" he mumbled.

"No, Johnson. It's me, Manfredi!"

Johnson blinked a few times, and now he saw Manfredi's face above him.

"Are you alright, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

Johnson sat upright and looked around.

The entire marketplace was destroyed. All that was left of it was some garbage that were once cars and stalls. And some smoke that was slowly filling the air. Except for them, there was no one to be seen.

The marketplace had been blown up.


	8. Chapter 7 - The HQ

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 7 – The HQ.**

…

Johnson just stood there, staring at the smoke. He didn't move. He didn't even blink.

"Johnson?" Manfredi asked eventually.

"What happened?" Johnson finally whispered.

"Well, Johnson," Manfredi said. "one moment there was nothing wrong. The next moment everything exploded. I could hide somewhere. After the explosion I went looking for you."

"Where did the people go?" Johnson asked.

Manfredi shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "some just ran away, others were brought to the hospital, I think."

Johnson thought for a while and scratched under his eye patch. Then he remembered the black cat Tilly. Could she have been a spy from O'Hara? Could she have been the one to throw the bomb? There was a possibility that Tilly had anything to do with it.

Johnson now remembered Barbara and Isabella. This was the third time that some mysterious woman crossed their path. What did they want? Where they on their side, or on O'Hara's side? Did they work together, or was is pure coincidence?

"What are you thinking about, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"Nothing," Johnson said. "let's go back to the HQ."

They went to the place where they had parked the car, only to find out that their car had been crushed by a piece of wood in the explosion. So they walked home. It was not a very short walk, and Manfredi got bored. But Johnson didn't seem to be in the mood to talk. There was a deep frown on his forehead. He kept scratching under his eye patch, what he did very often when he was thinking.

They left the city wand walked to the hill where their HQ was hidden in.

Suddenly, Johnson stopped.

"What is it, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

Johnson didn't say anything, but he just stared to something in front of him. So Manfredi followed his gaze, and he gasped.

Where their HQ had once been, was now just a crater in the ground.

"Our HQ!" Manfredi cried out. "It's been blown up too!"

"I can see that." Johnson snarled. He scratched under his eye patch again. "What is O'Hara's plan. What on earth does he want from us?"

"How do you know it was O'Hara?" Manfredi asked.

"I just know," Johnson said. He looked at the crater. For a moment, he thought he saw something moving. Like there was smoke coming from the ground, but it had a strange shape. The next moment it was disappeared, and Johnson felt a cold breeze.

"What are you staring at, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"Nothing," Johnson snarled. "stop asking stupid questions, Manfredi."

"Sorry, Johnson," Manfredi said, and he put his flippers behind his back.

He looked as Johnson carefully observed the situation.

The one-eyed penguin sighed. "We're going to have to move to a different HQ," Johnson said. "the problem is that most of our gadgets have been destroyed. Just like my laptop, by the way. So that means we lost a lot of information for our researches. I can't find out who send the e-mail with the Eiffel Tower anymore. And the picture of the location on the South Pole has been destroyed too. Just like my personal log."

"Oh dear," Manfredi said. "What are we going to do, Johnson?"

"Like I said," Johnson said, slightly irritated. "We're going to a different HQ. Then we'll see what we do."

"What HQ, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"We'll discuss that later." Johnson said. "First we're going to have to find what's left of our HQ that could be useful to us. Then we'll talk about where we're going.

…

_Johnson's log._

_This time it's a written log, for my recorder has been destroyed. Not only was the marketplace today blown up when we were on a food-mission. Also our HQ has been destroyed._

_I know it was O'Hara. I just know that._

_Furthermore, I met yet another mysterious person: a black cat named Tilly. There's something strange with her, just like there was with Barbara and Isabelle. And I have this feeling that I know her. I don't know what it is, because I've never known any black cat with green eyes. It's just a strange feeling that I have._

_Manfredi and I have gathered everything that was still whole and could be useful to us, and now we're on the train towards South America. We're going to our old HQ in the Amazon Rain forest. We haven't been there in years. But to me it seemed like a good place to hide. It's obvious someone is following us. And I will bet that it is one of O'Hara's men. I don't know what O'Hara's plan is. Bu I'm going to make it all very difficult for him. I will not be the mouse in his cat and mouse game. _

_But I am worried about Manfredi. The last thing I want to do is bring him into danger. But I swear that I will protect Manfredi with my life if I need to. I am merely a shadow of my former self. But Manfredi is still young and careless. He's not someone who lived in the dark, like I am. He deserves to live._

_And I? It doesn't matter if I live or die. But there's only one thing I want: O'Hara. I will get him. I'll get him for everything he's done to me._

…

The room was dark. There was only one light.

A large penguin with a scar on top of his head entered the dark room.

A figure that was sitting behind the desk looked up. In the sharp light above his head made dark shadows in his face. Only his long, yellow eyebrows could be seen clearly.

"Ah, Otto." The penguin said with a smooth, sly voice. "How did it go? Is the fly still in our web?"

"Yes, sir," Otto said. "Johnson and his companion are going to the Amazon Rain forest."

"Good, good," the dark penguin said. "And what about the bug in our system?"

"I haven't seen her after the explosion at the marketplace," Otto said. "She has disappeared again."

"Send Valerio to find her," the dark penguin said. "I want you to concentrate on our game. The bug will be fixed, I'm sure."

"Yes, sir," Otto said.

His master liked to talk mysterious like that. Often only his closest henchmen could really understand him. Otto was one of those.

"Anything else to report, Otto?" The dark penguin asked.

"No, sir," Otto said. "only that…. It think Johnson might be losing his mind in this. He's focused on revenge, and he's not exactly the penguin he used to me."

"Good, very good," the dark penguin said, smiling in a sly way. "it's perfect. This is even more fun than I thought."

"Am I dismissed, sir?" Otto asked.

The dark penguins nodded. "Yes, Otto," he said. "Go ahead. Go have fun. I'll call you when I need you."

"Thank you, sir," Otto said.

As Otto left, the dark penguin rested his head on his flipper.

Otto was a fine man, he thought. Loyal, skilled, not too stupid but not too smart either. The dark penguins knew he had nothing to fear from Otto. However, some other of his henchmen could not be trusted. That's why he always kept his gun loaded on his office. Just in case someone got ideas, and thought he could match the great criminal O'Hara.

O'Hara smiled at the stroked the gun with his flipper.


	9. Chapter 8 - Ghosts

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 8 – ghosts. **

…

_Johnson's log._

_We've been hiding in our HQ in the Amazon rain forest for a few days now. Nothing has really happened. It seems like we have escaped O'Hara and his men. On the dark side, we still haven't got any clue about where O'Hara is hiding. Also we still don't know who caused the explosion at the market place and in out HQ in Alaska. And the three mysterious women Isabella, Barbara and Tilly are still a mystery to me. I wonder what they want from us. They didn't seen to be from O'Hara's side, but it might be a trap. We can trust nobody._

_At the moment, I'm going to have to survive here alone with Manfredi. I'm taking a break from working for a while. I think Manfredi is happy about that, because he seems quite worried sometimes. _

_At least at the moment, there isn't much to be done. _

_I'll have to wait until something strange happens again. Then we'll be back in business. _

…

The TV was on. Manfredi was sitting on the couch, eating popcorn and watching one of his DVD's.

Johnson was sitting by the table, his head in his flippers. All he did was stare into the flame of the candle that was in front of him on the table. He didn't pay attention to the sound of the TV, or to Manfredi who was jumping up and down at some moments that he found exciting.

Johnson sighed. The flame of the candle moved slightly because of it.

The sound of the TV slowly faded away. The room became darker.

Johnson feel into a deep, black hole. He kept on falling and falling.

Everything around him was dark. Only the flame of the candle was still there. But it wasn't a flame anymore. It was an eye. It changed color from brown to red, to green and finally to a red-brownish color.

He head voices come his way. Voices that he had heard before.

_"I am certain I can help you with something, siñor."_

_"Now, now,__ calm down. Are you from the police?"_

_"Well you and your friend are stealing, too,"_

Those voices belonged to Isabella, Barbara and Tilly. The three mysterious women they had met during their missions, Johnson realized.

What was happening?

He landed. He was now in a dark room. There was only one, sharp light right above a desk. Behind that desk was a dark figure, sitting an a chair. His big, yellow eyebrows were the only thing what could be seen clearly. The rest was on big shadow.

Johnson wanted to say something, but his tongue seemed to be stuck. He couldn't talk.

Now he saw a large penguin with a scar on top of his head. Otto.

"Do you have it, Otto?" the dark penguin asked.

"Yes, sir," Otto said. He took something out of the bag that he carried with her. Johnson stood up to see what tit was, and he gave a scream of terror. Otto had Rebecca's head in his flippers.

Johnson fell again. As he fell, he saw heavily locked doors in the walls. It was as this was the rabbit hole, and he was Alice. Only there was nothing funny about this rabbit hole. It was dark and gloomy.

"Johnson, help me!" a voice screamed.

Johnson froze. "Manfredi…" he said.

Again Manfredi cried for help.

"I'm coming, Manfredi!" Johnson said. But he couldn't move.

Suddenly he was surrounded by his old teammates. "Pull yourself together, soldier," Skipper said.

"Manfredi!" Johnson cried out. "Manfredi needs me. Let me go!"

Then there was blood. The whole room was filled with blood. Johnson was standing in the middle of all of it. Around him, he saw the bodies of his old teammates and Manfredi. They looked horrible, with open wounds everywhere. But they didn't move anymore. Never.

"Who did this?" Johnson said. He looked up to the light that was coming from above. "Who are you?!" he cried out. "I will get you for this."

Suddenly the room was empty, but cold. There was an icy breeze that made Johnson shudder.

It was as if the wind was whispering his name.

"Johnson. Johnson."

"W-who's there?" Johnson asked. He noticed he was scared. He didn't know what or who was talking to him. He couldn't see.

"Don't be afraid, Johnson," the wind whispered. "I was always there for you. I still am."

Johnson's eye widened. "Rebecca?" he whispered.

She was there for a moment. He could see the rest of the room right through her. She stared at him with color-less eyes. Her chest was covered with blood.

Then she faded away.

"Rebecca!" Johnson cried out. "No, don't go! I need you!"

"Goodbye, Johnson."

"No, no, stay, please, I…"

…

"Johnson!"

Johnson gave out a scream. He jumped on his feet.

"Rebecca?!" He said, bewildered.

"No, Johnson, it's me," Manfredi said. "you fell asleep."

Johnson glanced at the room. No blood. No bodies. No Rebecca.

He noticed he was shaking with fear.

"Are you alright, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

He was about to add that he had heard Johnson scream in his sleep. But he decided against it. Maybe it was better not to tell him about everything.

"Johnson?" Manfredi said again. "Are you alright, Johnson? You look rather pale."

Johnson tried to relax, but he couldn't.

"I-im fine…" He said, stuttering a little. He wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Did you have a bad dream, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"Yes," Johnson said. "I mean, no. I… I think I'm going to sleep early today. You just watch your DVD, Manfredi."

He walked to his bedroom.

Manfredi looked as he left the room. He had a worried expression on his face.

How he wished he could do something to help Johnson. But Manfredi wasn't the smartest penguin around, and he knew that. What could he possibly do? They were in the middle of no where. This lonely place wasn't good for Johnson, Manfredi was sure of that. Maybe if he had more company, he would turn better. But they had to be careful. With O'Hara keeping an eye on them, they had to make sure nobody could find them. Manfredi could understand that.

Manfredi sighed and shook his head. First it was the sadness and the anger, then the taste for revenge, and now nightmares. What more did life have in store for poor Johnson?

"If only Rebecca were here," Manfredi said to himself. "She'd know what to do."

Manfredi shook his head. It was no use. Maybe he could better just go to bed.

…

"You can't run, little miss. You can't hide. You're mine."

"In your dreams!"

She was gone in a flash of black and white fur.

Valerio, a skinny penguin who apparently did his very best to look like James Bond, blinked a few times, surprised by how fast she was. Then he followed.

"You have bothered my master for the last time," Valerio said as he ran.

"Save your breath to run, Valerio," she said. "otherwise you might get tired."

"You can mock," Valerio said. "But you'll be sorry."

"What, you think that lousy explosion at the market place scared me?" she said. "be serious, Valerio. What do you take me for?"

"I take you for the little pest that you are," Valerio said. He now noticed he was getting tired. As a penguin, he has short legs and couldn't run very fast. And so he let himself fall forwards and began sliding on his belly. This went a lot fasted than running.

But she just laughed at him.

"Oh, really, Valerio," she said. "you are so hopeless."

"Oh yeah?" Valerio said angrily.

"Yeah," she said.

She stood still, and took something from her belt. For a moment she didn't move.

Valerio jumped on his feet and ran towards her. This was his chance.

But before he could reach her, she threw that what she had in her hand on the ground. A cloud of smoke appeared. And when is faded away, she was gone.

"That annoying little runt," Valerio growled. "I'll get her. Just wait."


	10. Chapter 9 - More explosions

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 9 – More explosions.**

…

_Johnson's log._

_Nothing happened in two weeks. _

_I can't stand it any longer. I have to do something. I can't just sit here, hiding myself, while O'Hara runs free. Who knows what kind of terrible crimes had submitted while I was sitting here in the dark, being a coward. _

_Something has to happen. I need a clue, a tip, anything. Anything that would give me a reason to get out of here and chase that darn criminal. I need to do something. I need my revenge._

…

Manfredi knew he wasn't allowed to listen to Johnson's personal log. But he was just too worried. And now that he had heard what was on Johnson's new log-recorder, the young penguin was even more worried.

Those words. '_I need my revenge_.' They were so filled with bottled-up hate and anger. Manfredi had never heard Johnson sound like that. Especially not while recording his log. Usually his voice sounded formal and calm on his log. Now he sounded angry, hateful, his voice was trembling with emotion.

This can't be good. Manfredi though. It just can't. What on earth am I going to do? Johnson is losing his mind. He is possessed. How can I help him?

Manfredi once again wished that Rebecca was still alive. She would know what to do with Johnson. Oh, how Manfredi wished he wasn't so small and weak. He was a pathetic excuse for a penguin. Johnson, on the other hand, was the strong one, the smart one, the leader. But he was possessed by his longing for revenge.

Manfredi was small, weak, he was not intelligent and he was too plump. But he didn't have the same dark feelings inside at Johnson did.

Manfredi sighed.

He didn't know what exactly happened. But the next moment, there was a very loud sound. As if something was exploding. Rocks flew through the room like bullets. Glass went along with it. It made a few bloody scratches in Manfredi's face.

The door went open with a loud bang, and Johnson stood there.

"Manfredi!" he said.

Manfredi ran towards his friend, but his foot hooked behind a stone on the ground and he fell. He tried to stand up, but he had hurt his ankle.

Johnson ran towards him. Without any afford, he picked Manfredi up and carried him on his back towards the door.

Things around them were still exploding. Manfredi had to close his eyes to the dust and pieces of glass that filled the hallways of the HQ.

Johnson ran towards the door. It was locked, but Johnson destroyed the lock with a powerful kick with his right foot. He ran into the jungle.

Only when they were very far away, Johnson stopped. He put Manfredi on the ground and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"What happened?" Manfredi asked.

"I don't know," Johnson said. "But I do know that we're not safe anymore."

"D-do you think it was O'Hara?"Manfredi asked.

It took a while before Johnson answered. "I don't think it was O'Hara," he said. "I _know_ it was O'Hara."

He sounded almost happy, and Manfredi knew why. There was finally reason for him to take action again. A reason why he should be hunting this criminal.

Manfredi shook his head. Why did everything have to go this way? Everything always went wrong.

"So what are we going to do, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

Johnson scratched under his eye patch. He then took a piece of paper from the pocket on his belt, and looked at it. It was the picture of the ice landscape that he had from O'Hara's hard disc drive.

"We are going to find out where this picture comes from," Johnson said then. "I must fin out where this ice landscape is."

"Where are we going to do that, Johnson?" Manfredi asked. "Our HQ is destroyed again."

"We have plenty of other HQ's," Johnson said. "But first we have to leave this jungle. How is your ankle, Manfredi?"

Manfredi tried to stand on his feet, but it hurt. So Johnson wrapped a leaf tightly around Manfredi's ankle, and helped him to walk.

…

"Well done, Otto," O'Hara said. "great work."

Otto bowed slightly.

"Thank you, sir."

"We got our little fly dancing again," O'Hara continued. "how is he, by the way?"

Otto was silent for a while. Then he began speaking, with a hesitation in his voice.

"Johnson is… not doing well at all, sir," he said. "He seems to have nightmares. He talks to himself when he's alone. It seems as if he's seeing… ghosts."

O'Hara moved in his chair. When he spoke again, his voice sounded interested. "Really? Ghosts? How interesting. I have to say, Johnson might be a more interesting person to work with than I thought."

Otto hesitated. He was afraid he would say something that would anger O'Hara. And that was the last thing he wanted. But then he decided to speak his mind after all.

"O'Hara, sir," the large penguin said. "I… don't see the point."

"The point in what, Otto?" O'Hara asked.

"In what we are doing," Otto continued. "What do you want from that Johnson? He has nothing that could be of any use to you. You are far more powerful than he is. He's no thread to you. What is it you really want from him?"

O'Hara hissed. Questions. He hated it when his minions started asking questions. Curiosity was a bad quality for henchmen. It meant they were starting to think. And thinking could lead to mutiny.

But then O'Hara softly chuckled. "My dear Otto," he said. "This whole mission is a web. A spider-web. And in this web, I am the spider. Johnson is the fly. Get the picture?"

Otto didn't get it. But he decided not to ask more.

"Yes, sir," he said.

"Fine," O'Hara said. "now, you are dismissed."

When Otto wanted to leave the room, the door suddenly opened and another penguin came in.

It was a skinny penguin who looked somewhat like a penguin version of James Bond, except that his eyes were burning with anger and frustration.

"Valerio," O'Hara said. "Are you back already? I suppose that means good news."

"No good news, sir," Valerio said. "she escaped. And without getting harmed. She's good, sir. I tell you. She's really good."

O'Hara sighed, strangely calm. "This bug in our system needs to be fixed," he said. "But this approach isn't working. We'll wait until she comes to us. We'll set a trap. And if she comes, you will be ready for her, Valerio."

Valerio nodded. "Yes, sir," he said.

"I thought Johnson was the bug?" Otto said.

"Otto, you're an idiot," Valerio hissed at him. "Johnson is the fly."

"Isn't that the same?" Otto asked.

"Don't try to understand the way our boss talks, Otto," Valerio said. "You're too stupid to understand that. Just remember that 'the fly' is you case, and 'the bug' is my case."

"Don't fight, boys," O'Hara said. "And if you really do need to fight, do it outside, please."

"Yes, sir," Valerio and Otto said at exactly the same time.

When they left the room, Otto gave Valerio a murderous glance.

He hated that penguin.

…

_Manfredi's diary. _

_Johnson and I are now traveling through north-America. We don't know where to go or what to do. Johnson is hacking computers so that he can do research wherever he is._

_My foot is better again, but I'm still worried about Johnson. With all these nightmares, I don't think he can go on much longer. How long until he will reach the end? I don't know._

_I just wish that things could be like they were before. Before everything went wrong. Before the war, before O'Hara, and before Rebecca's death._

_I would give anything to see Johnson at least smile again for just a moment._


	11. Chapter 10 - Tilly

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 10 – Tilly.**

…

Johnson sighed as he watched the sun set behind the buildings.

He and Manfredi were staying in a city in North America for a few days. They had found a good place to hide in an old warehouse near the docks.

Downstairs in the empty warehouse, Manfredi was already asleep. He was tired from all the traveling, and Johnson couldn't blame him. Also, he felt like he should be alone for a while. That's why he was sitting here on the roof of the building. His recorder for his personal log was next to him.

He sighed and stared at the city. There was nothing special to see.

Johnson pushed a button on his recorder and cleared his throat.

"Johnson's log," he said. Then he stopped. He thought for a while. Then he said again "Johnson's log….". But he didn't get any further than that.

What happened today? Nothing. Nothing at all.

Normally Johnson liked to work on his personal log. Saying everything that happened that day out loud helped him to think it through. It also helped him relax. But today it didn't help. There was a big black spot in his mind. He just didn't know what to say.

"I don't know," he said. He sighed.

"My mind is empty," he continued. "I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do. I don't know what I want anymore. I want…. I want…" Suddenly he hid his face in his flippers and started crying. "I want Rebecca," he sobbed. "my sweet, sweet Rebecca. Why did the world take you away from me? I need you so much. I can't stop thinking about you. I love you, Rebecca…" He looked up to the sky, his eyes filled with tears. "I love you so much. I… I…."

He looked down. It was a long way to the ground. Anyone who would fall from this roof would end up squished like a tomato.

Johnson swallowed a lump in his throat. Just on step. One little step, and all his trouble would be over. One little step, and there would be no more pain. And he would finally be with Rebecca. Oh, how awfully tempting it suddenly was.

Johnson pushed a button to stop the recording. He stood up, his eyes never leaving the ground far beneath him. All he could think about was to lift his sorrow, and to be reunited with Rebecca.

But then his eye widened as he remembered Manfredi.

His little penguin brother Manfredi. How could he be so stupid? With him gone, who would be left to protect Manfredi?

With a disgusted expression on his face, Johnson took a few steps back.

How could he even think of doing something like that? Manfredi needed him, and never would he leave the younger penguin alone. Never. He couldn't.

A soft breeze made Johnson shiver. It was almost as if the wind was whispering his name: "Johnson, Johnson…."

That voice…

Johnson's heart seemed to stop beating for a minute.

Was it….? No. Johnson shook his head. It couldn't be. Impossible.

He sat down again with a sigh. He was ashamed of himself. He almost dropped himself off the building. How could he be so weak?

Suddenly Johnson heard something behind him. He jumped up and turned around. There was a shadow next to the chimney. Without hesitating, Johnson jumped on the strange figure and pinned it to the ground.

"Who are you?" he growled. "What are you going here?"

Sharp nails suddenly scratched his face. He heard hissing.

He looked down and saw two big green eyes looking at him.

"Tilly?" was the first thing he said, before thinking about it.

"Yes, it's me," the black cat said. "Now let me go before I scratch your other eye out."

Johnson stood up and offered Tilly his flipper. She ignored it and stood up by herself.

"What are you doing here?" Johnson asked.

"Hm, firstly, watching you thinking about the option to kill yourself," Tilly said.

Johnson's cheeks turned a little red. She had seen that? Now that was humiliating.

"Secondly, almost getting crushed by you," Tilly continued.

Johnson rolled his eye. "Look, if you're not going to tell me why you're here, you might as well leave," he said. "I don't have time for nonsense."

Tilly sighed. "I'm sorry," she said. "The truth is: I'm a stray cat. And I don't have any friends. Nobody likes me."

"I wonder why," Johnson said sarcastically.

"I saw that you were in this town," Tilly said. "so I decided to ask you something."

"What is it?" Johnson asked.

"Will you let me join you?" Tilly asked.

Johnson's eye widened. "What?!" he said.

"I will help you with your work," Tilly continued. "I'm smart, I swear. I will be great help to you. Please?"

Johnson scratched under his eyepatch. Then he shook his head.

"No," he said. "Manfredi and I are a team. A penguin team. We don't allow cats. Especially not strays like you."

"Please," Tilly begged. "I will be loyal, I swear. Give me a chance, please?"

"How do I know you're not working for O'Hara?" Johnson said.

"O'Hara?" Tilly said. "who the heck is that."

Johnson raised an eyebrow. "The answer is still no," he said then. "so scram."

At that moment Manfredi came on the roof, while rubbing the sleepiness out of his eye.

"What are you doing, Johnson?" he asked. "There's so much noise from up here…"

He stopped when he was Tilly.

"Johnson," he said then. "who is your new friend?"

"She is not my friend!" Johnson said.

"I'm Tilly," Tilly said quickly. "And you must be Manfredi, right?"

Manfredi nodded. "Yes, miss," he said. "nice to meet you."

"My, you are a polite little penguin, aren't you?" Tilly said, making her vice sound as if she was talking to a little child.

Manfredi blushed.

"So, why are you here, miss Tilly?" he asked.

"I'm trying to talk Johnson into letting me join you two." Tilly said. "Whatever you are doing."

Manfredi clapped his flippers. "Oh, yes, Johnson," he said. "let her join. It would be great to have a new friend."

Johnson growled. "No!" he said. "we are not letting her join. She can not be trusted."

"What, is this because I'm black?" Tilly said. "that's just plain discrimination."

"Oh, come on, Johnson," Manfredi begged. "let her stay. I like her."

"Yeah, won't you do your friend a favor?" Tilly asked.

Johnson felt like the walls were closing in on him, even though there were no walls here. For a long time he didn't say anything, while Tilly and Manfrdi kept talking in on him. Then it was like something exploded in his mind.

"Alright, alright, she can stay already damn it!" He suddenly screamed.

Both Tilly and Manfredi looked at him for while, surprised at his sudden outburst.

"But I'm keeping an eye on you, young lady," Johnson continued. "one wrong move, and you're dead meat, understood?"

Tilly smiled. "Understood, commander," she said.

Manfredi clapped his flippers again. "Yay!" he said.

"Take Tilly downstairs, Manfredi," Johnson said. "inform her about the rules out our unit. And make sure she understands them and more importantly, follows them."

"Alright, Johnson," Manfredi said. "thank you, Johnson."

He took Tilly's paw and took her with him as he left the roof.

Johnson sighed as he sat down next to his recorder again.

"How could I let them talk me into this?" he said. He pushed the button on his recorder again to work on his new log entry.

…

_Johnson's log._

_I don't know how it happened, but somehow the black cat named Tilly, the same as the one I met on the marketplace before the explosion, has joined our unit. But I don't trust her, and I'll make sure I won't tell her too much. She could be a spy. On wrong move, and she'll be in big trouble._

_Today has been a very unfortunate day. I hope tomorrow will be better._

_For the moment, I think I could use a good night of sleep._

_We'll see what tomorrow brings. _


	12. Chapter 11 - Cat got your tongue

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 11 – Cat got your tongue.**

…

_Johnson's log._

_We have continued our traveling through the country. The newest member of our unit, Tilly the cat, is still with us. And she doesn't seem to be wanting to leave anytime soon._

_I still have mixed feelings about Tilly. Firstly she always reminds me of something, but I'm not sure what it is. Secondly she's not exactly the most perfect soldier. She doesn't always seem to follow orders correctly. He also tends to be rude to me. _

_I don't know what to do with her. But I'm sure I will not fully trust her until she had given me a very, very good reason to trust her. _

_Passing on to another subject: I have been doing some research about that photo of the Ice landscape that I found on O'Hara's hard disc drive. Till so far I haven't found anything. At moments like this I wish Kowalski was still alive. He would fix this problem in a minute. I guess I'm just not such a brainiac as he was. _

_Now on the plus side: despite that we still haven't found any trace of O'Hara, I've been feeling better lately. I haven't had any nightmares for a few nights now, and I don't imagine to be seeing ghosts anymore. I guess everything might be turning back to normal._

_Except for one thing: I still must find O'Hara. I must still find him and stop him, no matter how good I feel. He must pay for what he has done._

…

Johnson woke up by hearing a voice. His green eye was immediately wide open as he listened.

There were the usual sounds of a moving train at night. But since they were in that train, he had heard it all night long and wasn't bothered by it.

He had definitely heard a voice.

"_he must pay for what he has done…_"

Johnson sat upright. That wasn't just any voice, that was his own voice.

Johnson jumped on his feet, and immediately saw Tilly sitting on a wooden crate. The recorder for Johnson's personal log was next to her, and she seemed to be taking notes.

Johnson was about to call her name aloud, but he was reminded that Manfredi was still sleeping. So he stood up and walked to the black cat. She didn't see him, for she seemed to busy with writing and listening.

"Tilly!" Johnson whispered, but loudly.

Tilly jumped up and dropped her notebook. Quickly she pushed on a button of the recorder to make it stop playing.

Johnson crossed his arms over his chest impatiently. "What the heck are you doing?" he said, keeping his voice soft so he wouldn't wake up Manfredi, but still firm.

"I, uh…" Tilly said.

"I did not give you permission to listen to my personal log entries," Johnson said, grabbing the recorder. "and why were you taking notes?"

Tilly seemed unsure, but that didn't last long. "Curiosity," she said.

Johnson raised an eyebrow. "What?" he said.

"Curiosity," Tilly repeated. "I was curious."

"Curious for what?" Johnson asked.

"Whatever you say in those log entries," Tilly said. "it's quite interesting. You really don't trust me, do you?"

Johnson snorted. "Of course not," he said. "especially not now."

Tilly just shrugged. "That's a shame," she said. "but I'm sure you'll learn to like me in time, Johnny."

Johnson growled. "Don't call me 'Johnny'," he snarled. "my name is Johnson, and that's what you will call me."

"Okay," Tilly said in a 'no-problemo' way.

"Now I order you to go back to sleep," Johnson continued. "we have to be up early tomorrow. And don't you dare touch my recorder ever again. Because if you do, I'll chop off your paw."

"How interesting," Tilly said with a smirk.

Johnson just snorted and turned around. But before he had gone back to the place he had chosen to sleep, he heard Tilly's voice behind him.

"She seemed like a very special character, that Rebecca of yours."

Johnson froze. For a moment he couldn't think. He just slowly turned around to look at Tilly. "You know about Rebecca?" he asked.

"Sure I do," Tilly said. "your poor deceased little wife…."

"Fiancée," Johnson corrected her. "we were never really married."

"Sounds tragic," Tilly said.

There was a silence.

"You know," Tilly said then. "I think that Rebecca and me have something in common."

"What?" Johnson said slowly.

"Well, 'had' in her case," Tilly said. "but I really think we look alike at some points. I'm like Rebecca number two."

Suddenly she got hit in the stomach and fell on the ground.

Johnson growled. "Don't you dare talk about my Rebecca like that," he said. "you will never, I repeat **never **replace her!"

Tilly sat upright on the floor of the train. "What is it with you?" she asked. "why are you so obsessed with her, even if she's dead? She's gone, there's nothing you can change about that."

Johnson opened his beak, but no words came out. He closed it again, was silent for a while, and then tried again.

"It's because she is dead," he said.

Tilly raised an eyebrow. "How do you mean?" she asked.

"Have you never loved anyone?" Johnson asked. "Were you never willing to give up your life for someone? You have no idea how it was. I was prepared to do anything for my Rebecca. I would do anything to keep her safe. And she died right in front of my eyes."

Tilly said nothing. She just stared at Johnson with her big green eyes.

"You have no idea what torture it is," Johnson continued. "being stabbed through the heart is nothing compared to the pain I feel. Move on, others would say. But how can I move on? The one who I always cared about the most in this world, is gone."

"What about Manfredi?" Tilly asked.

Johnson shook his head. "It's different," he said. "Manfredi is like my brother. He's not like Rebecca."

"I know," Tilly said. "but you want to protect him, don't you?"

"Of course," Johnson said. "he's my penguin brother. I won't leave him alone. I won't let him get hurt."

"And yet you did," Tilly said.

Her words hit Johnson like a slap in the face. He blinked. "What?" he said.

"Your chasing after O'Hara brings Manfredi in danger," Tilly said. "he already got hurt in the Amazon Rainforest. And he could get hurt again."

"But…" Johnson stuttered. "My… my mission…."

Tilly sighed. "That's true," she said. "You have to continue your mission. Because if you don't stop him, who will?"

Johnson was speechless for a while.

"I believe in you, Johnson." Tilly said. Then she bit her lip, as if she thought she had said something wrong.

Johnson stared at her. What just happened? For a moment, she didn't sound like herself. Not only because she was actually being nice to him, but also her voice had changed. It suddenly sounded calmer, friendlier. Less high-pitched.

As Johnson looked at Tilly in surprise, he suddenly noticed something. Her eyes. They weren't reflecting the light of the moon. Cat's eyes were known to do that more than other creature's eyes, usually.

Johnson frowned. There was something strange going on.

He now also realized he had never seen Tilly do much cat-like things. She never purred, or meowed, and he had never seen her hiss at dogs.

Without saying anything, Tilly stood up and walked back to the spot she had chosen to make her bed. She curled up to sleep. But somehow, Johnson didn't find it very cat-like.

What in the world was the matter with this cat? What was it that she wanted? Why was she here? And most importantly, _who_ was she?

Because Johnson had this feeling she wasn't what she seemed.

…

O'Hara growled.

"This woman is spoiling everything," he said. "how can I play this game with this… this bug in the system? Why haven't you done anything, Otto?"

"Me?" Otto said. "But I thought it was Valerio's task?"

"But now she's with Manfredi and Johnson," O'Hara said. "it's a different story."

"But… that's not fair." Otto said.

"Otto, you idiot," O'Hara said. "it's not about fair or unfair here." He sighed. "very well then, go get Valerio. You two will have to work together on this."

"Together?" Otto said. "but sir, I…."

"No buts," O'Hara said. "you'll do as I say. Go get Valerio."

Otto sighed. "Yes, sir," he said.

How he hated Valerio. Working together with that James Bond wannabe was going to be torture. But facing the wrath of O'Hara was even worse, so Otto was certain of his decision.

He left the room.


	13. Chapter 12 - The cat's out of the bag

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 12 – The cat's out of the bag.**

…

_Johnson's log._

_Our journey is continuing southwards. My first guess about where the ice landscape on O'Hara's picture can be is on Antartica. It's just a guess, but there's nothing else I can do._

_Tilly is still with us. After the strange conversation that I had with her a few days ago, she has returned to her normal self… or not. _

_I do not know if she is who she appears to be. She might be lying. I'm not sure why. I do know for sure now that she isn't going to harm me or Manfredi directly. But that doesn't mean I trust her. This cat is really someone to keep an eye on. That's what I've been doing all along, and I will continue doing it. _

_We have seen no sign of O'Hara or his henchmen. Also there have been no further explosions. But I don't expect things to go well for long._

…

At night was the only time now that Johnson had some time to be alone and think. After a whole day of traveling, he didn't feel as tired as Manfedi usually did. The one eyed penguin could stay awake for hours after his two comrades had gone to sleep. Then he usually worked on his log entries, or he just sat there and thought about everything that was troubling his mind at the moment. And that was quite a lot.

Also this night, Johnson just couldn't fall asleep.

He, Manfredi and Tilly had found a place to sleep under an old bridge. It was near a small city, or maybe it could better be called 'town'.

Johnson wondered if this way of traveling: by being a tramp, was a good way. But what other choice did they have? When their HQ's were destroyed, they lost most of their options to travel. They could have tried to get on board of a human plane, but Johnson had decided that was too risky.

And now here they were: two penguins and a weird black cat, traveling through the country like tramps. And that piece of excuse was supposed to save the world.

Johnson couldn't help but let out a short, humor-less laughter when he thought of it. Man, he felt so pathetic now.

"You okay, Johnson?"

Johnson looked over his shoulder. It was Tilly who was standing behind him.

"Ugh," Johnson said as he rolled his eye. "can you never just sleep and leave me alone?"

"I'm a cat," Tilly said. "and cats are night creatures, remember?"

"Cats also meow and purr, and chase mice," Johnson said. "I never see you do that."

Tilly shrugged. "Maybe I'm just not that kind of cat," she said.

"Why don't you just leave me alone?" Johnson asked.

Tilly put her hands on her hips. "What is your problem?" she asked, and she too sounded a little annoyed now.

"At the moment, you are my problem," Johnson said.

"Oh, I get it," Tilly said. "you hate me, right?"

Johnson looked at her for a while, the harsh expression in his eye never changing.

"I don't trust you," he said then.

When he looked at her, he recognized the same side of Tilly as he had seen a few days ago, when Tilly had been listening to his log.

She once again wasn't the perky black cat anymore. She was someone else.

"You have no idea how wrong you are," she said.

Johnson blinked. What in the world was the matter with this cat?

At that moment, Tilly suddenly looked at something behind Johnson. "What was that?" she asked.

"What?" Johnson said.

"I saw something…. No, someone on the bridge." Tilly said.

Johnson turned around and looked. But he saw nothing.

"There's nothing there, Tilly," he said to the cat. "stop pretending."

"I'm nit pretending," Tilly said. She grabbed Johnson's flipper. "Just come and take a look up there. Trust me, someone is watching us."

"You know I don't trust you," Johnson said.

Tilly rolled her eyes. "You are just so…."

She wasn't able to finish her sentence. Something jumped on the ground right behind Johnson. The penguin turned around and was a familiar face: Otto. He was wearing a backpack and a belt, both full with weapons.

Johnson took a fighting stance. "You!" he said.

"Don't be alarmed, Johnson," Otto said. "we're only here for the girl."

"We?" Johnson said.

At that moment, he heard Manfredi calling his name. He looked over his shoulder, and saw that Manfredi had woken up and was staring at another penguin, one that seemed to do his best to look like James Bond. He too was carrying a lot of weapons.

"So this is Manfredi?" Valerio said. "man, he's ugly."

"Leave him alone, you filthy rat!" Johnson said.

"Give us the girl," Otto said. "and we'll leave you alone."

Johnson turned his head and looked at Tilly. They were obviously talking about her.

"What do you want from her?" Johnson asked Otto.

Otto growled. "Just give her to us!" he said. "we'll go and won't bother you anymore, if you just give her away! She can't be trusted anyway, I thought you were the one who said that."

"I'm sorry, Otto," Johnson said. "but in this unit, nobody gets left behind. Not even a cat."

"Okay, then we'll just kill your little friend over here," Valerio said. He took a knife from his belt and placed it on Manfredi's throat.

"No!" Johnson cried out. He tried to do something, but Tilly was quicker. She jumped towards Valerio and slapped he knife out of his hand. She did it so quickly, that Valerio did not have the time to do anything.

A second blow hit Valerio's head, and he fell.

Johnson looked at Tilly in surprise. "I never taught you that!" he said.

They had not time for talking. Otto had grabbed one of his guns and was busy loading it.

"Quick, into the water!" Johnson said. "They can't swim with so many weapons."

He helped Manfredi to stand up and they ran into the water.

Tilly hesitated.

"What are you waiting for?" Johnson asked, with a quick look on Otto, who was almost ready loading his gun, and Valerio, who was starting to wake up again.

"I don't like water," Tilly said.

Johnson rolled his eye. Of course: cat's hate water.

"Look, it's either swim or die," Johnson said. He held up his flipper. "Come on, trust me."

Tilly looked up when he said that.

"You trust me?" she asked.

"Okay, okay," he said. "maybe I do. A little. But just hurry up."

'BANG!' Otto's gun was now loaded. A bulled only just missed Tilly's head.

Quickly she grabbed Johnson's flipper and let herself being dragged into the water.

Penguins are fast swimmers, and soon they were out of Otto and Valerio's reach. Johnson had been right: they couldn't swim with so many weapons. And they knew it, so they didn't try to follow them.

Tilly didn't even need to swim herself; Johnson just dragged her along through the water. He was an extremely fast swimmer, and they soon caught up with Manfredi.

Once they had found him, Johnson made a signal that they were far enough. They swam back to the surface.

"We lost them," Johnson said.

"Why did they want Tilly?" Manfredi asked.

Tilly shrugged. "I don't know." She said.

Johnson looked at her. She looked different now that she was wet.

Suddenly he frowned. She looked a little too different. He looked at the water and in the light from the city, he could see that the water was black. But not completely: it was only the water around Tilly. It looked like there was black paint in the water.

"Tilly?" Johnson said.

Tilly noticed it too. Her eyes were wide with shock.

"You're not a cat!" Johnson said, and he suddenly sounded angry.

The water was washing the black paint out of Tilly's fur, and it revealed a white stripe on her back. She sighed, avoiding Johnson's gaze.

"Who are you?!" Johnson said "Answer me!"

"Okay, okay," Tilly said. Her voice sounded different again. Calmer, and less high-pitched.

'Tilly' took out the green contact lenses she was wearing. Under that, here eyes were red-brown. Then she removed the fake cat ears that had been attached to her real, small, round ears. She removed a small hairpin, and a black lock of hair fell over on of her eyes.

"You're Isabella!" Manfredi said. "the skunk that we met in Mexico."

"Yes," the young female skunk said. "And I'm also Barbara, the white cat that you met in Paris. My real name is Zoey."

"You traitor!" Johnson said. "And I had finally started to trust you!"

"You can trust me, Johnson," Zoey said. "I'm not a traitor. I've been helping you all along. Where I work, I'm known as AZS."

"The one that send us the e-mail," Manfredi said.

"Indeed," Zoey said. " 'AZS' stands for 'Agent Zoey skunk'. My boss has send my to help you. In the whole world, only one penguin seemed brave enough to hunt down O'Hara. You, Johnson. You have to trust me…"

"How on earth can I trust you now?" Johnson asked.

Zoey looked straight into his green eye. "Because I'm your friend," she said. "please, let me help you."

Johnson was silent for a while. "Why did you disguise yourself?" he asked then.

"Because I was hoping O'Hara and his men won't recognize me," she said. "But they know about me. The first explosion, at the marketplace, was meant for me. They tried to kill me. When that didn't work, they send Valerio after me. But I escaped, and I was able to disguise myself as Tilly and join your unit."

"And you know more about O'Hara?" Johnson asked.

"Yes," Tilly said. "but we'll talk about that at a safer place."

"So what do we do now, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"First I'll have to decide if Zoey can stay," Johnson said.

"But…." Manfredi started to say.

Johnson interrupted him. "I said that Tilly could join our unit," he said. "I never said the name Zoey."

"Oh, just so you know," Zoey said. "I was able to put a little tracking device in Valerio's pocked when I was fighting him. If we're lucky, we can follow him easily and find out where O'Hara is hiding."

Manfredi clapped his flippers. "Oh, you're so smart!" he said. "can she stay, Johnson?"

The skunk and the penguin both looked at Johnson. And for just one time, they saw Johnson smile.

"Zoey," he said. "you are a genius."

…

**..**

**Author's note:**

**As some of you might know, it is revealed that**

**Manfredi and Johnson will make an appearance**

**in the Penguins of Madagascar episode 'the **

**penguin who loved me'. I have seen a picture of**

**them already, and their design is clearly different**

**from mine. **

**This does not mean this fanfiction will stop. I will**

**continue to write it, even though my version of**

**Manfredi and Johnson are different from the now**

**canon one.**

**Snowy Stoat.**


	14. Chapter 13 - Memories

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 13 – Memories**

…

_Johnson's log._

_Even though Zoey lied to us a lot, I finally feel like I can trust her. She isn't acting anymore: this is the real her._

_I have to say that Zoey is a smart, reasonable and interesting woman. And she has proven to be a great actress and mistress of disguise, since she fooled both me and Manfredi. I wouldn't have expected it, but I like her. She is the kind of person I can reason with. _

_Also I admire her fast thinking, when she put a tracking device in Valerio's pocket. The wild goose chase is over, now the real work starts. All thanks to Zoey._

_On the dark side, my nightmares aren't getting any batter. I've been having more and more trouble sleeping. And right now, I should be getting all the sleep I can get. I need my energy for if we find O'Hara. _

_I feel like I'm seeing ghosts. I sometimes get the feeling someone's watching me, when there's no one there. I often think I hear someone whispering my name, but it's not real. And sometimes I even think I see Rebecca. _

_But it's all in my head. I just don't know how to get rid of it. _

_Zoey apparently tried to talk to me about all this. But I don't want to talk. Manfredi tried the same many times. But I don't think anyone can help me. I have to do this myself. I have to stay strong, at least until O'Hara is dead. Dead by my hands, moreover. Because I have to be the one to finish him. Me, and no one else._

_We're now following Valerio and Otto southwards. I know where we're going: Antartica. The natural home of penguins like us. _

_I wonder what O'Hara has in store for us._

…

While Johnson was working on his log, Manfredi and Zoey were sitting near the fire. They had build their camp in a forest. It was close to the town they had ended up in after taking a taxi from the airport. They used different ways of traveling, because then they weren't easy to track. Not that they expected anyone to follow them. It was mainly so that humans won't fin out about them.

It was very clearly in the penguin code: never let humans discover that you are more than dumb animals. Never.

"He's taking long today," Manfredi said. "to record his log, I mean."

"I think making the log is his way of processing his emotions," Zoey said. "he doesn't want to talk about it with anyone, that's why he talks to that recorder of him."

"Why doesn't he want to talk to us, Zoey?" Manfredi asked.

"I think he's just stubborn," Zoey said. "and he doesn't want us to see his weaknesses."

"But I do see his weaknesses, Zoey," Manfredi said. "and I still look up to him. I think he's the bravest penguin I've ever met. I even wish I was more like him."

"Maybe Johnson doesn't see that clearly with that single eye of his," Zoey said with a smile. She sighed. "Did he really turn this way after Rebecca died?" she said.

Manfredi nodded. "I remember it very well," he said. "He first started drinking, but later he said it only made him feel worse, so he stopped. He has never been the same after that. And when Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private died, he swore he would have his revenge. Then he started hunting down O'Hara."

"But that was years ago," Zoey said.

"Yes, Zoey," Manfredi said. "the first few years he was only planning he revenge. Only a few months ago he really started doing research for O'Hara. That when this whole adventure started. But I know that if Rebecca were still here, things wouldn't have turned out this way."

"Do you miss her, too?" Zoey asked.

Manfredi nodded. "Yes I do, Zoey," he sadly replied. "She was a wonderful person. I've never met anyone like her. However…" he looked up at her. "you do have something in common with Rebecca, Zoey."

"I do?" Zoey said, surprised. She had said so herself when she was disguised as Tilly. But she hadn't even meant it.

"Yes," Manfredi said. "I don't know, but in some ways you act the same as her. Only sometimes, but still."

"Oh," Zoey said. She looked at the fire.

"May I ask you something personal, Zoey?" Manfredi asked.

"Why, of course," Zoey replied.

"Well, I've heard that skunks smell very bad," Manfredi said. "but I think you smell very good. How's that?"

"Oh," Zoey said, smiling. "the story that skunks smell bad all the time is just made up for cartoons for children. Actually, skunks only spray that smelly stuff when they're scared. I myself had to learn to control the instinct to do that, because it's not really useful when you're an agent."

"Oh," Manfredi said. "who do you actually work for, when you're an agent?"

"I'm sorry, Manfredi," Zoey said. "but that's classified. I took an oath that I would never tell who my boss is. But I can tell you, he's on your side."

"Oh, we're in luck, then." Manfredi said.

Zoey smiled. "Indeed, you are," she said.

There was a silence. Manfredi and Zoey both stared into the flames of the fire, not knowing what to say. They heard Johnson talking softly back in his tent. He was still working on his log entry.

"So, were Johnson and Rebecca really, you know… engaged?" Zoey eventually asked.

"Yes, they were," Manfredi said. "But they were it for a very long time. Skipper was already starting to think they would never marry. They had finally started to plan a wedding when… well, you know. When Rebecca died."

"It must have been terrible," Zoey said. "did you ever see her when she was dead?"

Manfredi slowly nodded. He had seen her very clearly. "They came back," he said. "they were wounded, and they looked sad. I wanted to ask what had happened…"

…

_Manfredi looked up. There they were, finally._

_But when the door opened, and Manfredi saw the commander Skipper, he knew something was wrong._

_Skipper had blood on his face and his right flipper. He sadly looked down to the ground when he slowly entered the room. After him came Kowalski, also with bleeding wounds and a sad expression. Even Rico, who's feathers were messier than usual and covered with blood, looked down to the ground and dragged his chainsaw over the ground behind him, without even trying to lift it completely._

_Manfredi opened his beak to ask what had happened. But he didn't come any further than 'What'. _

_Johnson entered the room. And the first thing Manfredi saw, was Rebecca's limp, blood-covered body in Johnson's flippers. _

_He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was that really her? Was that the friendly, cheerful Rebecca that he knew? The Rebecca that played games with him, who was never angry at him when she caught him stealing cookies, who was always able to make Johnson happy?_

_Only when Manfredi had finally realized that it was really Rebecca, and that she was indeed gone forever, he looked up at Johnson and saw the horrible wound in his face where once an eye had been. _

_Manfredi wasn't sure what looked more horrible: Johnson's fresh wound, or Rebecca's blood-covered body. _

_Johnson walked to the table and carefully put Rebecca on it, as if she wasn't dead, just asleep and he didn't want to wake her. Then the now one-eyed penguin kneeled next to her and took her cold flipper in his._

_Rico started crying so loudly, it almost seemed fake. But it wasn't._

"_Stay strong, soldiers," Skipper said, clearly fighting his own tears. "we lost a very remarkable penguin and a dear friend and teammate today. And I'm sure that…" he stopped to blow his nose._

"_Are you alright, Johnson?" Manfredi asked._

"_Leave me," Johnson said softly. "all of you."_

_Manfredi felt Kowalski's flipper on his shoulder. "We'd better go," he said. "I think Johnson wants to be alone for a while."_

_Manfredi nodded, and they all left the room._

_Johnson didn't move._

…

"Oh, Manfredi," Zoey said. "I'm so sorry. I never knew it was that worse."

She put a hand on Manfredi's shaking shoulders.

Manfredi tried to saw something through his sobbing, but he just couldn't say one word that made sense. Thinking back of Rebecca's death suddenly hurt so much. Was this how Johnson was feeling all the time?

But Johnson didn't seem to cry about it. Manfredi did. He couldn't help it.

Zoey hugged him. "There, there," she said. "it's okay, Manfredi. It's okay to cry. You'll feel better afterwards."

Zoey had learned to never let her personal feelings get in the way of her mission. But she couldn't help it. She just felt so incredibly sorry for both of these penguins. They had gone through a lot of terrible things. They had lost many of their closest friends.

Zoey just wanted to help them. And not only by finding O'Hara. She wanted to be there for them if they needed her. She wanted to comfort them if they were feeling down.

She just wanted to be their friend. Now more than ever.


	15. Chapter 14 - Antarctica

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 14 – Antarctica.**

…

_Johsnon's log._

_After a long time traveling, we've finally reached it: Antarctica. The natural home of us penguins. _

_We still got a lock on the tracking device in Valerio's pocket. He probably hasn't noticed yet, and we're still able to follow him and Otto to O'Hara's hiding place. _

_We will have to walk from here. It's the only way now to cross the ice. Manfredi and I are doing fine. But 'm afraid Zoey isn't very used to this cold weather. I don't think she can go on much longer, because the further we go, the colder it will be. _

…

One night, while the two penguins and the skunk were roasting their fish above a small fire, Johnson stood up and said: "This is where I draw the line."

"What do you mean, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"I mean this is the point where you and I will go on alone. Zoey has to stay here." Johnson said. "It's getting too cold. We'll be back in just a few days, Zoey can stay and wait here until we return."

"What are you talking about?" Zoey said. "I'm not leaving you."

Johnson rolled his eye. "Manfredi and I can survive just fine in this cold," he said. "you can't. It's warm enough here for you to survive a few days, and that's all Manfredi and I need to find O'Hara and get back here."

"I thought I could help you find O'Hara," Zoey said, a little angry. "You can't fight him alone."

"Yes I can," Johnson said. He thought for a while, and then added: "Now I think about it, I'd better go alone."

"Are you insane?" Zoey said. "You wouldn't survive five minutes without us!"

Johnson looked at her furiously. "_What_ did you say?!" he said.

"You heard me!" Zoey replied. "You think you're the big, strong penguin here. But you are nothing without your friends. If it wasn't for me, you would have jumped off that roof and killed yourself, remember?!"

"What?" Manfredi said.

Johnson turned his head away. Manfredi didn't know about how close Johnson had been to committing suicide just a few weeks ago. He was ashamed to say the least. He would have preferred if nobody else had known about it.

"You remember that, right?" Zoey said. "You remember is very well."

"What do you want from me?!" Johsnon suddenly screamed.

In the silence that followed, Manfredi held in his breath, waiting for Zoey's reaction to this outburst. What would she do? Would she yell at Johnson? Would she attack him? Would she walk away angrily.

But Zoey did none of those things. She just looked at Johnson for a long time, without saying a thing. Then, without any warning, she stepped forward and hugged the one eyed penguin.

"I just want you to stay safe," Zoey said softly.

"Umm..." Johnson said, confused.

Manfredi stood up. "Me too, Johnson," he said, and he hugged his friend too.

The first few seconds, Johnson didn't seem to know what was happening or what to do. But then he put a flipper around Manfredi's shoulders, and one around Zoey's shoulders and he hugged both of them back.

"Trust me," he said. "I want the same for you two. That's why I think it's better if I go alone."

"You can't go alone, Johnson," Manfredi said. "you'll get killed. Then who would be left to look after me?"

At that moment, Johnson almost felt tears fill his eyes. But he pulled himself together, and let go of Manfrei and Zoey.

"Alright then," he said with a sigh. "we're going together. But promise me that you won't do anything stupid."

"What do you take me for?" Zoey said jokingly.

She laughed, and then something strange happened. Johnson laughed too.

Manfredi hadn't seen him laugh since the day Rebecca died. It was just a small chuckle, actually. But still: he was laughing.

At that moment, Manfredi suddenly had the feeling everything was going to be allright.

…

The door opened, and Otto entered the room.

"Otto," O'Hara said. "Since when do you not knock before entering?"

"S-sorry, sir," Otto said, but he didn't seem as calm as usual. He was panting, as if he had just been running.

"What is it?" O'Hara asked.

"J-Johnson and Manfredi, sir," Otto said. "And… the little bug, as you call her. They're very close to the lair. They will be here tomorrow!"

"Really?" O'Hara said, as he slowly stood up. "that is quite fast. But, allright. It doesn't change much in the game. Except for one little thing. The bug must be kept busy."

"You want me to do that, O'Hara, sir?" Otto asked.

"Yes," O'Hara replied. "Valerio has proven himself unable to fight her. Maybe you won't fail me this time, Otto."

Otto nodded. "Yes, sir," he said. "I mean… no, sir. I won't fail you."

…

The next day, the three comrades woke up early. Zoey had to put on some warm clothes, because otherwise she would freeze to death. They packed their stuff, which were their tents and food, and left.

They sky was clear today. There was no snow, and also barely any wind. It was a perfect day to travel.

Even though he had laughed the day before, Johnson now seemed to be back to his usual grumpy, serious self. He walked through the snow, without looking back, only focusing on what was lying before him.

Manfredi had a hard time keeping up with Johnson's pace. He was walking a little too fast.

Zoey had no problems with keeping up. She was very well-trained. Manfredi wasn't like that at all. He even was a little overweight.

Suddenly, it was about noon, Johnson stopped.

"What is it, Johnson?" Zoey asked.

"This is wrong…" Johnson said as he shook his head. "This is really wrong."

"What?" Manfredi asked. "What's wrong, Johnson?"

When Johnson did not answer, Zoey and Manfredi took a step closer to him, to see what he was seeing.

They were standing on the top of an ice berg. Beneath them was a valley between the ice rocks. There were a lot of penguins down there. And not only penguins, but small buildings made out of ice.

"It's a village," Zoey said. "a penguin village."

"What's wrong about that, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

"What's wrong about that?" Johnson repeated. "Everything's wrong about that. Why on earth would O'Hara's lair be in the middle of a penguin village?"

Zoey and Manfredi gave each other a look. They were just as surprised as Johnson was.

"Is this really where O'Hara's lair is?" Zoey asked.

"Yes," Johnson said. "it's exactly where the tracking device leads us."

"But where is it?" Manfredi asked. "I don't see any secret lair, Johnson."

"Of course not," Johnson snarled. "Do you think O'Hara would be so stupid to build his lair right in the open? It's hidden of course. Maybe even underground."

Johnson looked down to the village, looking for something that could lead him to O'Hara's lair. Wasn't there any clue?

"Hey, Johnson," Manfredi said. "look. That mountain is the same as the one on the picture."

Johnson looked up and saw the ice berg on the other side of the village. He took the picture that he had found on O'Hara's hard disc drive out of his pocket, and compared it with the view.

"You're right, Manfredi," Johnson said. "this is it. O'Hara's lair must be in that Ice berg. And apparently, he wanted us to find it. But why?"

"I don't know, Johnson," Manfredi said.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Johnson snapped.

Manfredi looked down at his feet. He didn't like it when Johnson was angry at him like that. It made him feel worthless.

But lucky for him, Zoey was still there.

"Really, Johnson," the female skunk said. "Do you have to be so…"

She was interrupted when something jumped on her. She was thrown to the ground, and snow filled her eyes and mouth. She coughed and tried to stand up, but someone was holding her pinned to the ground.

"Zoey!" Manfredi cried out.

"Get off me, you stupid penguin!" Zoey said to the one who was holding her.

It was a large penguin with a scar on top of his head. Otto, O'Hara's most trusted henchman.

"Oh, so that's your name," Otto said. " 'Zoey'. Isn't that name a little too pretty for an ugly little skunk like you?"

"Ugly?" Manfredi said. He couldn't say he agreed with that. Personally, he thought Zoey was the prettiest skunk he had ever met. He thought she had lovely eyes.

Johnson stepped forward, ready to attack Otto so that Zoey could stand up. But suddenly, something in the village below caught his eye. There was a small, black figure standing there. It didn't move, and Johnson knew this penguin was looking straight at him.

When the one-eyed penguin took a better look, he saw that it was a rock hopper penguin. He was very short, but his yellow eyebrows were huge. And Johnson knew that if he came closer, he would see that the eyes beneath these eyebrows were red like rubies.

Because Johnson knew all too well who this penguin was. His name was O'Hara.

Johnson turned around.

"Manfredi!" he said. "help Zoey. I need to get to O'Hara!"

He saw a path that would lead him down to the village. Without hesitating, he went belly-sliding down the hill.

Some penguins quickly jumped aside when Johnson entered the village, still sliding on his belly. Quickly he jumped on his feet. But before he had the time to look around, something hit him. Or better yet: someone.

Johnson looked up and looked right into the face of O'Hara.

"You!" Johnson said. He felt hate and anger rushing through his veins at the same moment as he saw the evil penguin's face.

"Hello, Johnson," O'Hara said. "did you miss me, all those years? How sweet."

Johnson jumped on his feet. "You will pay for what you did, O'Hara." He said. "You will pay for the lives of Skipper, Kowalski, Rice and Private. I won't give up until I've killed you!"

"My, my," O'Hara said. "it worked even better than I thought."

For a moment, Johnson was confused. What was O'Hara talking about.

But then O'Hara hit him again. He was stronger than he seemed. But Johnson was strong too, so he jumped on his feet again and attacked O'Hara back. O'Hara jumped aside, and Johnson's head hit the ice beneath him.

"You're too angry to think," O'Hara said calmly to Johnson. "that's a great weakness in a fight, you know. The best warriors are the calm ones, you out of all penguins should know that."

"Don't you tell me what to do," Johnson growled.

"Temper, temper," O'Hara said.

"I hate you," Johnson snarled as he charged again.

Meanwhile, Manfredi was trying to help Zoey. But Otto was just too strong, and Manfredi couldn't fight him. At his very first attempt to attack, Otto hit Manfredi so hard that he felt off the iceberg. Lucky for him, he only fell on the path that lead down to the village.

The ice was so slippery, however, that Manfredi want sliding don on his back, head first.

"Help!" Manfredi cried out. But Zoey was fighting Otto, and Johnson was fighting O'Hara. None of them could help the poor penguin.

And suddenly, Manfredi's head hit someone's back. He heard someone say "Ow!". He sat upright on the ice and looked up. "Oh, I'm so sorry," he said. "I…"

He stopped as he saw two turquoise blue eyes looking down at him.


	16. Chapter 15 - Still not over

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 15 – Still not over.**

…

Manfredi couldn't speak for a moment.

Right in front of him, he saw one of the most beautiful penguins he had ever seen. She had big, turquoise eyes, and those eyes were looking straight at him. She was a little smaller than he was, and she looked tender like a fairy.

"Oh my," she said. "are you alright?"

Manfredi's face suddenly turned very red. "Um, yes," he said, stuttering a little. "I'm fine. No problem. Nope, I'm completely okay."

The penguin girl giggled a bit and Manfredi quickly stood up.

"Did you fall down the path?" the penguin girl asked. "It's quite slippery up there."

"Yeah, very slippery," Manfredi said, chuckling nervously. "Um… m-my name is Manfredi, miss."

"That is a funny name," the penguin girl said, and she seemed a little shy now.

"Oh, um… thanks," Manfredi said, still with his face as red as a tomato.

"My name is Chantal," the penguin girl said.

"That is a very lovely name."

"Thank you."

Both of them looked away shyly. Then they both started talking at the same time, apologized, and were silent again for a while.

"So, you live here?" Manfredi asked.

Chantal nodded. "Yes," she said. "my whole family lives here. I still live with my parents, to be honest."

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with that," Manfredi said quickly.

"And you?" Chantal asked. "are you new here?"

Manfredi nodded. "Yes, I… I came here with two of my friends…" he hesitated. He wasn't allowed to talk about the mission to strangers. Even if they were sweet and beautiful like Chantal.

"You seem very nice," Chantal said shyly. "my parents told me strangers are rude and evil and can't be trusted."

"Oh?" Manfredi said. "B-but I'm not evil. I'm the opposite of evil. I'm supposed to fight evil."

He slapped a flipper over his beak. He had said too much. He wasn't allowed to say things like this to strangers. But he just didn't want Chantal to think he was evil.

He looked at Chantal, and she seemed impressed. "Really?" she said. "So you're a real hero?"

Manfredi's face turned red again. "Well, maybe not really a hero," he said, looking at his feet. "M-my friend Johnson… he's the real hero."

At the same moment, Johnson hit the ice rock next to Manfredi.

"Johnson!" Manfredi cried out.

But Johnson seemed perfectly fine, because he jumped on his feet immediately. He gave Chantal one look, and then turned to Manfredi.

"Stop flirting with the locals and do something useful!" he snapped at the younger penguin.

Then he raised his flipper to block an attack from O'Hara.

"Oh dear," Manfredi said.

Chantal took a step back. "Manfredi?" she said. "What's happening?"

"I-it's a very long story," Manfredi stammered. "I can't explain it all now."

"Oh," Chantal said.

Manfredi looked over his shoulder at Johnson, who was still fighting O'Hara.

"I think I have to go and help Johnson now," the young penguin said.

When he turned to Chantal again, she was smiling at him. He felt he was blushing again.

"You must be very brave," Chantal said.

If it was possible, Manfredi would be blushing even more now. "Oh, well, not as much as Johnson," he muttered.

"I'm sure you are." Chantal said.

"You really think so?" Manfredi asked shyly.

Chantal nodded.

"Manfredi!" Johnson shouted in the background.

"I really have to help him now," Manfredi said. But to be very honest, he would rather stay where he was and talk to Chantal. He wanted to get to know her better. And he felt like he could talk to her for hours. He had always been someone who found it easy to like certain animals and even humans immediately. But never like this. This was really something special. Or better yet: Chantal was something special.

"**Manfrediii!**" Johnson's angry voice woke Manfredi up from his dream. He looked at the beautiful Chantal one more time. Then he turned around and ran towards Johnson and O'Hara. He was able to make O'Hara fall face forward on the ice.

Johnson wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Good work, Manfredi," he said, panting. Even though he was a strong penguin, he was tired from the fight by now.

But O'Hara had already pulled himself together. He stood up, ready to attack Johnson again. But before that could happen, something fell down from the sky, right on O'Hara's head. Actually, it wasn't something, but someone. It was nothing less than Otto.

Johnson looked up to the iceberg above him. "Zoey," he said.

Otto regained consciousness and quickly stood up.

"Sir!" he said to O'Hara. "the bomb!"

Johnson frowned. "Bomb…." He said. But he didn't have to think any longer, for he understood what was happening here. "Evacuate!" He shouted as he began running towards the ice berg.

Manfredi quickly turned around to Chantal. "Chantal, run!" he said, before following Johnson. Luckily, Chantal listened to him and ran away from the village, but in a different direction than Manfredi. She looked over her shoulder one more time, and her turquoise eyes met Manfredi's blue ones. Just for a minute, they looked at each other. Then they continued running.

In the meantime, Otto helped O'Hara standing up and both of them left the village, too. Many other penguins also noticed something was wrong, and started running too.

When Manfredi was halfway to the top of the ice berg, he heard the explosion. And he knew that if he would look back, he would see the entire penguin village exploding. It was yet another self-destructing lair of O'Hara.

At the top, Johnson and Manfredi stood still.

"Are you alright?" Zoey asked them.

Manfredi was too tired to answer. And Johnson just stared down at what once had been a village. Then he looked at the small figures that were the penguins that had escaped. And he recognized the silhouettes of Otto and O'Hara.

He growled. "He escaped again."

Manfredi also looked down at the escaped penguins. But he wasn't looking for O'Hara or Otto. And when he recognized the tender little figure of Chantal, he sighed in relief. She was alive. Thank god.

Manfredi then turned around to see Johnson knelt in the snow.

"Are you alright, Johnson?" Manfredi asked.

Johnson didn't answer, but he didn't need to. Because Manfredi and Zoey could very well see what was wrong: O'Hara had escaped. And Johnson felt utterly defeated because of that.

Zoey helped Johnson to stand up. "Come on," she said. "we can't stay here and freeze in the snow. We have to go. Are you coming too, Manfredi?"

Manfredi took one more look at the destroyed village beneath him. And he saw Chantal's silhouette waving at him from the distance. He waved back.

"Manfredi, hurry up!" Zoey said.

"I'm coming, Zoey," Manfredi said.

…

"You idiot!"

Otto wiped the snow out of his eyes. "What do you mean, sir?" he asked.

"You let the bomb explode too early," O'Hara said. "now everything is ruined. It was the perfect scene: the last battle between the spider and the fly. And you ruined it."

Otto had never seen O'Hara so angry.

"I-I'm sorry, sir," the large penguin stuttered.

"Months of planning, all for nothing," O'Hara said as he sat down on the ice.

He sighed, and there was a long silence. Then he looked up, and seemed his normal, calm self again.

"Otto," he said. "gather what is left of my other henchmen. I want a list of everyone who has died."

"Yes, sir." Otto said.


	17. Chapter 16 - You'll be in my heart

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 16 – You'll be in my heart.**

…

"She was beautiful, Zoey," Manfredi said dreamily. "and her voice sounded so sweet. And the way she smiled… just.. wow." He sighed.

Zoey shook her head, smiling. She softly punched Johnson with her elbow.

"I think someone's in love," she whispered, giggling.

"Hm." Johnson just said, uninterested. His mind was still set on O'Hara's escape.

"Do you think I'll ever see her again?" Manfredi said, sighing again.

"With some luck, maybe you will," Zoey said. She didn't want to kill the young penguin's dream by saying it would be difficult to find Chantal again. She expected this to be just an innocent crush, and that it would be over in time.

"Maybe we should go to sleep now," the female skunk eventually said. "we have to go out early tomorrow."

"I'm sure I'm going to dream of Chantal the whole night," Manfredi said, still with his head in the clouds.

"Yeah, go ahead," Johnson said. "dream of her while you still can, before you know it she'll be dead!"

Manfredi looked at him with hurt in his eyes.

"Johnson!" Zoey said. "just because your girlfriend died, doesn't mean that happens to everyone. Manfredi is still young, it's completely normal for him to dream about love, in my opinion."

"She wasn't my girlfriend," Johnson said, but he said it so softly that the others couldn't hear it. "she was my fiancée."

Manfredi thankfully looked at Zoey. "Thanks, Zoey." He said.

Zoey smiled. "Let's just go asleep now," she said. "I'm sure Johnson will be better in the morning. He's just grumpy about O'Hara."

Johnson gave her a furious look, but she ignored it.

They had lost their tents, so they had to sleep right out in the open. Even though it was cold, and it felt a little uncomfortable to be sleeping under the sky without any protection, the two penguins and the skunk quickly fell asleep.

Manfredi had been right: he did dream about Chantal that night. It was a very simple dream in a way: he dreamed he and Chantal were locked up in some dark room. Soudenly, the ceiling went away and they noticed they were those little dancing puppets that you can sometimes see in a music box. And the rest of the dream, all they did was dancing. He almost really felt dizzy because of it.

But while Manfredi was lying there with a smile on his face, Johnson was tossing and turning. There was cold sweat on his forehead.

"Rebecca," he muttered in his sleep. "no, not Rebecca…"

In the middle of the night, Johnson woke up with a cry. He was shaking with fear, sweat on his forehead, tears in his eye. He looked around, looking for reality to calm him down. But he almost screamed again when he saw that the ice around him was green. No, it was purple… or was it read?

Everything around him suddenly had all different kinds of colors. Sometimes it changed, and sometimes it was completely green or completely purple.

What was happening? Was he still asleep? Was his nightmare continuing?

Only when he looked up to the sky, he saw what was going on.

He slowly let his breath escape from his lungs. "Polar lights." He whispered.

And it was true: colors were dancing through the sky like fire. It was breath-taking. It was more beautiful than anything Johnson had ever seen.

He stood up, his eyes never leaving those dancing colors in the sky. Even he couldn't deny that this was something magical. It was a true wonder of nature.

But it also frightened Johsnon in a way. He didn't know why.

And then, there it was again: a cold breeze through his feathers. The breeze seemed to be calling his name. But this time, it really was.

"Johnson," the wind whispered in his ears. "Johnson."

Johnson's heart skipped a beat. He didn't say anything, but followed the sound of that voice. He didn't know where he was going, he just kept on walking, while looking at the colors of the polar light.

The colors reflected against the ice, and made it appear as if the light wasn't only in the sky, but everywhere. Johnson knew he was far away from the camp and his friends now. But he didn't turn around and walk back. He had to stay, for the wind blowing in his ears, or maybe it was more like singing, was almost mesmerizing.

"Johnson…." The wind howled.

"Who are you?" Johnson whispered. "Why did you bring me here? What do you want."

The voice in the wind didn't answer the question directly. Instead, it whispered: "You'll always be in my heart, Johnson, always. And I'll be in yours."

Johnson's green eye widened. "R-Rebecca?" he whispered.

Suddenly, he lost the power in his legs and fell on his knees in the snow. There were tears in his eye as he looked up, desperately looking for Rebecca's face in the polar light. But he didn't see anything. "Where are you?" He said.

He wanted to turn around, but then he heard Rebecca's voice again.

"Don't look behind you, Johnson. There's nothing there to see."

"Why are you doing this?" Johnson cried out. "Why are you hurting me like this?"

"You're hurting yourself," Rebecca's voice whispered. "It's you who started this, and it's you who can end this."

"I didn't kill you!" Johnson said. "… someone else did. I didn't start this. It was O'Hara, when he killed Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. It's all his fault!"

"Things aren't what they seem," Rebecca said. "Open your eyes, Johnson."

"I… can't…" Johnson sobbed. "I need you. But I lost you."

"You never lost me," Rebecca's voice whispered softly. "I'm always with you. And I always will be. Wherever you are. Whatever you do. I'll be there if you will remember me."

"I will," Johnson promised with all his broken heart. "I will always think of you, Rebecca. Always. I love you, no matter how long you have been dead. I still love you."

The wind slowly turned, and became softer.

"No," Johnson said. "No, don't go. Stay with me, please. Rebecca!"

But she was gone. So was the polar light.

Johnson was sitting in the dark, all alone. It was so cold, that the tears almost froze on his face.

He felt so alone. For a moment, he had been closer to Rebecca than he could have been in years. He almost felt her presence just a few minutes ago. Now she was gone.

For a moment, Johnson wished he had jumped off that roof weeks ago. If he had done it back then, he would be with Rebecca now. And now here he was, lost and alone in the snow. He didn't get the meaning of Rebecca's words. And he didn't seem to care. All he could think about was that he was alone, with no Rebecca around.

The cold made him feel even more lonely. Why had he even come here? It had been wonderful, in a way, to hear Rebecca's voice again. He almost felt… happy a few minutes ago. But now everything was back to point zero. Or worse.

"Why me?" Johnson sobbed. "Why, of all penguins, me?"

But he remembered his promise. He wouldn't forget Rebecca. And how could he, even if he wanted to? She was still the only woman he loved with all his heart. He had never wanted anyone else but Rebecca. His own, sweet Rebecca. No matter if she was dead or alive.

He stood up and started walking. He didn't know where he was going, but he walked and walked. He didn't exactly know how he ended up in the camp again. But after a long time he fell unconscious next to Manfredi and Zoey.

When he woke up the next morning, he wondered if it had all been just a dream.


	18. Chapter 17 - War

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 17 – War**

…

_Johnson's log. _

_We have left Antarctica behind us, and are heading towards New York. I'm sure we'll be able to find a place to stay there. At least until O'Hara shows up again._

_Why O'Hara had send me clues to fin his secret hideout still puzzles me. I guess I'll have to ask him a few questions first, before I kill him. But I won't give up now. Even though I curse myself that I let him escape, I won't let him escape next time. I swear that O'Hara's days are numbered._

_Zoey is still with us, and not planning to leave until her master tells her otherwise. I am convinced that her master is on our side, even though I haven't spoken to him. But he doesn't matter anyway. I don't have time for things like that._

_Manfredi's condition does bother me. He keeps on speaking about this girl called Chantal. He can't concentrate anymore, it seems. The only thing he thinks of all day is that Chantal. I almost regret that I let Manfredi come to O'Hara's hideout. If I had made him stay away, he wouldn't have been this way._

_Zoey thinks I should understand Manfredi's situation. After all, I have been in love too once. But I am certain that I have never been like Manfredi. Of course he can be in love, after all nobody can really control feelings like that. But he's overreacting. I'm sure he could concentrate for just a minute if he tried. But he just doesn't do it._

_I hope he will be better in a few days. At least I hope he'll start acting normal again. That's all I'm asking._

…

Johnson stopped the recording and stared out of the window of the plane. He was sitting alone in a chair. (it was a mostly empty plane, strangely enough.)

A few chairs in front of him were Zoey and Manfredi. They were talking, but Johnson couldn't understand what they were saying. And he didn't care. Not at the moment, at least.

He sighed, as he let his mind wander.

…

"_Look out!"_

_Someone pushed Johnson aside, and the ground where Johnson had just been standing exploded._

_Johnson looked up as his savior. "Thanks, Skipper," he said. _

_Skipper, the short, flat-headed leader of the penguins, didn't answer as he looked around. "Where are the boys?" he asked._

_Johnson, who was first lieutenant and probably the oldest of the penguins, stood up. "I can't see them."_

_More things were exploding. One of O'Hara's henchmen flew through the air and landed right in front of the commander and the lieutenant. He was dead. And moreover, he was beheaded. _

_But both Skipper and Johnson were used to see terrible things like this. They were both soldiers, after all. They had fought in wars before. Skipper, for example, had quite some trouble with bad guys in Denmark some years ago. _

_Suddenly, Johnson saw someone familiar running towards them. _

"_Kowalski," Skipper said, as the tall penguin stopped in front of them._

_Kowalski, second lieutenant of the penguins, meaning he was only one rank lower than Johnson, first looked at the beheaded henchman with horror. Then he swallowed his shock and turned to Skipper._

"_Manfredi and Private are stuck," he said. "a big pipe landed on them. Rico is able to lift it, but we need more help."_

"_Let's roll," Skipper said._

_The commander and first lieutenant followed Kowalski. It was hard to see much, because of the smoke and the mist. Also, there was garbage and things left from explosions everywhere. _

_But soon they reached the place where the two youngest members of the team were trapped. _

_There was indeed a large iron pipe on top of Private and Manfredi. Private was only stuck with his foot. Manfredi seemed to be more injured. His eyes were closed and he seemed unconscious. _

"_Something next to us exploded, Skipper!" Private said. "Before we knew it, we were trapped under this thing."_

"_No talking," Skipper said. "Rico!"_

"_Aye-aye!" Rico said, saluting Skipper with his flipper next to his head. Rico had always been probably the strangest member of the team. Not only was he crazy, and he could barely talk, he was able to keep things like weapons in his stomach and barf them up whenever he wanted to. Even though it was strange, it did come in handy._

_But the penguins knew that at the moment, Rico didn't have any weapons in his stomach. They had used all weapons already._

_On Skipper's command, Rico put his shoulders under the large pipe and lifted it. _

_Skipper, Kowalski and Johnson quickly removed Private and Manfredi from under the pipe._

_Kowalski took a look at Private's foot._

"_Broken," he said. _

"_Oh dear…" Private said, obviously worried._

_The penguins heard a sound, and when they looked up they saw a plane flying over them._

"_More bombs," Skipper said. "We've got to get out of here. Boys, evacuate!"_

_He picked Private up, and started running. Kowalski followed._

_Johnson grabbed Manfredi's shoulders. "Wake up, Manfredi!" he shouted. "Now! Hurry!" _

_Rico threw away the pipe and wanted to follow Skipper and Kowalski, but he stopped when he saw Johnson._

"_Y'comin', Johnson?" He asked._

_Johnson looked up. He had to hurry up, he knew that. But he couldn't leave Manfredi here to his fate. "Just go ahead," he said to Rico. "I'll catch up."_

_Rico frowned. But then he shrugged. "Okay," he said. He gave Johnson and Manfredi one more look, then he ran off in the same direction as Skipper and Kowalski._

_Johnson tried to make Manfredi wake up, but failed. So eventually he was able to pick the young penguin up and carry him on his back. He wanted to run after his teammates._

_And at that moment it happened. The plane above them dropped a bomb, and Johnson just knew that it was on the exact same place as Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private had to be at that moment._

_Johnson's eye widened. "No…." he whispered._

_But more bombs were falling, and he had to find a place to hide. Eventually he found the empty hole of some animal who had probably died long ago. He hid himself and Manfredi safe underground. _

_When they came out the next morning to look for their teammates, they could only find body parts of dead penguins. Of course, O'Hara's henchmen were penguins too. So the remainings could be of anyone. But they knew that there was no hope anyway. _

_They were alone._

…

The memory of that terrible day still hurt Johnson. He wished he were able to do something back then. But he had to help Manfredi. He would never have forgiven himself had he left Manfredi to his fate.

"Johnson,"

Zoey's voice woke Johnson up from his deep thoughts.

"Huh?" He said.

Zoey was suddenly next to him. "Johnson," she said again. "I just got a message from my master. I have to leave as soon as we get to the airport. I need to do another mission, and my master wants to discuss something with me."

Somewhere, Johnson was disappointed that she had to go. He had really grown to like her.

"Will you come back?" he asked.

"Maybe," Zoey said. "if my master orders me to do so. Or when I have some time off."

"Well, you are always welcome with us," Johnson said.

Zoey smiled. "Thank you, John," she said. "I knew you were a good penguin after all."

Johnson let himself being hugged by the skunk. Then she jumped off the chair again to say goodbye to Manfredi.

The plane was readying for landing.


	19. Chapter 18 - New York

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 18 – New York. **

…

New York was busy as always. There were so many people walking trough the streets, that the two penguins were barely noticed.

Manfredi and Johnson had said their last goodbyes to Zoey, and were now looking for a place to spend the night.

They had been in New York before, years ago. But back then, Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private had been with them. Now they were with only two. In a way, that came in handy, because six penguins are easier to see in a street full of humans than only two penguins. Still, Johnson insisted that they were careful and stayed n the shadows.

"I'm tired, Johnson," Manfredi said. "And my feet hurt. Can't we rest for just a minute?"

"No," Johnson answered. "We can't risk being seen by these people. We can rest when we have found a good hiding place."

"But, Johnson…" Manfredi started.

Johnson interrupted him. "No buts!" Be said.

Manfredi decided it was best to listen to him. He sounded awfully cranky again, and Manfredi honestly didn't feel like making him really angry. He knew what Johnson was like.

Johnson tried to think as he walked, but his mind kept wandering on other things. He needed to find a good hiding place, but all he just couldn't stop thinking about O'Hara. He had to find him, no matter what. He would go truly insane if he didn't find O'Hara.

And then there was that night with the polar lights. Johnson still wasn't sure if it was a dream or reality. But he knew that he had been closer to Rebecca than he had been in years anyway, no matter if it was a dream or not. What was it she said again? He tried to remember.

_"Don't look behind you, Johnson. There's nothing there to see."_

_"Why are you doing this?" Johnson cried out. "Why are you hurting me like this?"_

_"You're hurting yourself," Rebecca's voice whispered. "It's you who started this, and it's you who can end this."_

_"I didn't kill you!" Johnson said. "… someone else did. I didn't start this. It was O'Hara, when he killed Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. It's all his fault!"_

_"Things aren't what they seem," Rebecca said. "Open your eyes, Johnson."_

"Open your eyes…." Johnson whispered. What did she mean by that?

"What did you say, Johnson?" Manfredi asked, who probably thought Johnson was talking to him.

Johnson shook his head. "Nothing," he said. He scratched under his eye patch.

Did Rebecca mean that it wasn't O'Hara's fault that Skipper, Kowalski and Private were dead? How was that possible? It was his war. He was the one who let his henchmen steal that plane and drop a bomb on the four penguins' heads.

Or was it a mistake? Were all Johnson's years of research wrong?

"Johnson, look out!" Manfredi suddenly said.

Johnson reacted a little too late, and he suddenly fell face-forward in a hole in the ground. He landed in dirty water, and stood up as fast as he could and looked around.

"Ugh," he grunted. "open sewer. I hate that."

Manfredi looked down trough the hole. "Are you alright, Johnson?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Johnson said. "Just help me get out of here."

"But it's too deep, Johnson," Manfredi said. "and I don't have a rope."

"Can't you find anything up there?" Johnson asked. "a stick or anything?"

Manfredi's head disappeared for a while. But he soon came back. "

"No, Johnson," he said. "I can't find anything."

Johnson rolled his eyes.

"What were you thinking about so much that you didn't watch were you were walking, Johnson?" Manfredi asked curiously.

"Nothing!" Johnson snapped. "It's none of you business."

"So what should we do now?" Manfredi asked.

Johnson sighed. "Come down here," he said. "we'll find another way out."

"How do I get down?" Manfredi asked.

Johnson growled in annoyance. "Jumping, of course."

"But…" Manfredi said.

"Come one!" Johnson snarled. "Just jump. I'll catch you, okay?"

"O-okay," Manfredi said, not so sure of himself.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and jumped in the hole.

As promised, Johnson caught him in his flippers and put him down. "Okay, now let's go," he said.

Manfredi looked around. It was dark in the sewer, and it smelled quite bad. There were strange sounds everywhere. They were probably the sound of the traffic on the street, but down here it sounded very spooky.

"Do you think there are rats down here?" Manfredi asked.

"You are not afraid of rats, are you?" Johnson said, rolling his eye.

"Oh, no, Johnson," Manfredi said quickly. "I just don't like them."

"Hm," Johnson grunted.

"It smells very bad here," Manfredi said, as he followed his friend through the filthy pipes.

"Manfredi?"

"Yes, Johnson?"

"Stop talking."

"Yes, Johnson."

They continued walking in silence. Manfredi actually wanted to say something to break this uncomfortable silence. But Johnson had told him to shut his beak, and he didn't want to annoy his friend even more. Sometimes it was better to leave Johnson alone, especially when he was in a mood like this.

Johnson had to admit he felt bad for acting so grumpy towards Manfredi. But he just needed the silence. He had to think, and he didn't want to be interrupted.

…

"_Rebecca, can I talk to you?" _

"_Why of course, John. What is it?"_

_Johnson looked at Manfredi, who was watching his favorite TV show. He didn't pay attention to the two older penguins._

"_I just can't understand that anyone like you could believe in things like ghosts," Johnson said to Rebecca, keeping the volume of his voice low._

"_So?" Rebecca said. "What's wrong with what I believe in? I thought you didn't care about that?"_

"_Oh, I don't," Johnson said quickly. "I don't mind that you believe in ghosts, but do you really think you should share your thoughts about that with Manfredi?"_

"_What do you mean?" Rebecca asked. "He seemed interested in it. Why should I not tell him about what I thin of ghosts?"_

"_Well, it's just…." Johnson said. "you know how Manfredi is. He might get nightmares from all those stories about ghosts."_

"_Oh, really, Johnson," Rebecca said. "I only shared my thoughts, I really don't tell any scary stories about ghosts. I don't believe that things like Bloody Mary really exist. And you're acting as if you're Manfredi's father, did you know that?"_

"_Is it so strange that I feel responsible?" Johnson asked. "Manfredi is like a little brother to me."_

_Rebecca smiled. "How sweet." She said._

"_Don't mock me."_

"_I'm not mocking you, John. I mean it."_

_Johnson sighed. "Alright," he said. "but please don't scare Manfredi with ghost stories. Ghost don't exist, we all know that."_

"_If there's one thing I learned, Johnson," Rebecca said. "it's that things aren't always what they seem."_

_Johnson frowned. He had to admit, she had a point. _

"_Now let's not talk about it again," Rebecca said. "It's not a very nice subject to talk about."_

_Johnson nodded. "I agree," he said. _

"_I'm going out for a walk," Rebecca said. "I'll be back soon." She walked to the door._

"_Reb!" Johnson said._

_Rebecca stopped and turned around. "Yes?"_

"_I love you."_

"_I love you too, John."_

…

'Things aren't always what they seem'. Rebecca had said that before. Actually, Johnson remembered she said it a lot.

But what did she mean by it this time? He just couldn't figure it out.

"Johnson?"

Manfredi's voice woke him up from his thoughts.

"What id it?" Johnson asked.

"D you know where we are?"

Johnson looked around. "No idea." He said.

"Then we are lost?" Manfredi asked.

Johnson just growled in annoyance.

Suddenly, Manfredi's eye widened. "Did you hear that, Johnson?" he asked.

"Oh, just shut up, Manfredi," Johnson said. "let me think!"

"No, I heard voices," Manfredi said. "I really did."

Johnson frowned and listened. And Manfredi was right, there were indeed voices. They sounded soft and distant, but they were indeed there. Johnson tried to understand what the voices were saying. He could understand a few sentences.

"Why must those inventions always be tested on me?"

"Well, because you're the youngest, of course. I was used as a guinea pig too back in my days as a young, naïve soldier."

Manfredi and Johnson looked at each other.

"I know those voices." Johnson said.

And at that moment, they both started running in the direction of the voices.


	20. Chapter 19 - The penguins

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 19 – The penguins**

…

"Stand back."

Manfredi took a step back, and Johnson kicked open the door that blocked the way. An alarm went of. There was a red flashing light as Johnson and Manfredi finally looked into the room where they had heard those awfully familiar voices.

For a moment nobody said a word, and the entire room was only filled with the sound of the alarm.

Manfredi felt his heart skip a beat. His beak was open, but no sound came out.

Johnson couldn't speak either. He couldn't even think. His green eye was wide open with shock.

In the room with the alarm, there was exactly the same feeling.

Finally, a short penguin with a flat head stepped forward.

"Johnson?" He said carefully, as if he was afraid to hear the answer. "Manfredi?"

"Skipper!" Manfredi cried out, tears in his eyes.

It was almost as if something exploded in the room.

"Manfredi, Johnson, you are alive!" Skipper cried out.

The next moment, everyone was crying out names.

"Skipper!" "Kowalski!" "Johnson!" "Private!" "Rico!" "Manfredi!" "Private!" "Kowalski!" "Johnson!" "Skipper!" "Rico!"

"You're alive!" "We thought you were dead!" "What happened?" "How did you escape?" "Where were you?" "I'm so glad you see you!"

Skipper grabbed Johnson's shoulders. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" He shouted, completely freaking out. "Do you hear me?!"

"Calm down, Skipper," Kowalski said.

Rico waved his flippers around and said a whole flow of words that no one could understand. Then he hugged both Johnson and Manfredi so tightly that the air was squeezed out of his lungs.

"Good to see you too, Rico," Manfredi said, gasping for breath.

"I can't believe this," Kowalski said. "all these years you were alive. How did you do that? We thought that bomb landed right on your heads!"

"And we thought is fell on your heads," Johnson said. "it must have fallen somewhere between us."

"I really missed you," Manfredi said. "all of you."

"We missed you too, Manfredi," Private said. "Right?"

The other penguins nodded. "Of course."

"So what have you been up to all these years that you were not dead?" Skipper asked.

Johnson hesitated for a while. Should he tell them about everything? About how he wanted to take revenge for their deaths, even though it now appeared that they weren't dead at all.

"We've been trying to catch O'Hara," Johnson eventually said.

"O'Hara?" Skipper said. "So you know where he's hiding?"

"No," Johnson said. "Not anymore. He used to hide on Antarctica, in a penguins village. But he blew the whole place up and left."

"But how did you find it?" Kowalski asked. "I did research for months, and I could find nothing."

"Well, we couldn't have done it without Zoey, a skunk who was send to help up," Manfredi said. "she really was great help during our mission."

Kowalski sighed. "Beaten by a girl," he said. "again."

"What, are you talking about the event with Doris the Dolphin again?" Private asked.

"No!" Kowalski said, a little too fast after Private talked.

"Pull yourself together, Kowalski," Skipper said. "You know she's not into you."

Kowalski sighed again. "Yes, Skipper."

They sat around the table, and Manfredi and Johnson told the whole story. From the moment they went to Mexico to the moment they heard the voices in the sewer.

"And now it's your turn, Skipper," Johnson said. "what happened to you guys in all those years? And where are we now?"

"We are in the Central Park Zoo, Johnson," Skipper said. "This HQ is build under our original habitat. It's a perfect cover: we're always close enough to humans to keep an eye on them, and they don't even notice anything weird. Though the zoo lady almost got us sometimes."

"But we always beat her in the end," Private said enthusiastically.

There was much to talk about. Much to explain, much to tell each other. Later, Johnson couldn't really recall all the things that he had said that day. It was just too many. He noticed he sometimes wondered if this was just one of his awful dreams, and so he almost expected his old teammates to suddenly drop dead with blood covering their bodies. But this was real, and so horrible things like that didn't happen.

When it was feeding time in the zoo, they all went up to the habitat for the fish that Alice the zookeeper would throw to them.

When Alice saw the penguins, she scratched her head. "Weren't there four penguins instead of six?" she said. But then she shrugged in the typical Alice-way. "Well, it's probably nothing."

"She really doesn't realize it, does she?" Manfredi said.

"Phwa, she's a human," Skipper said. "everyone knows they're all a bunch of idiots."

…

"Agent Zoey."

Zoey looked up from the magazine that she was reading, and saw a ginger cat standing in front of her. She knew him: he was one of the many messengers from her master.

"What is it?" Zoey asked.

"Agent, the master wants you to continue your mission with the penguins Johnson and Manfredi," the cat said.

A smile appeared on Zoey's face. "That's great," she said. "I shall start packing, then."

She wanted to stand up and walk to her quarters, but the cat stopped her. "First he wants you to pay a visit to someone," he said. "It has to do with O'Hara. It might be an important clue."

"Who?" Zoey asked.

"A certain penguin called Buck Rockgut," the cat said, handing over some papers. Zoey looked at them. On the first paper was a picture of an old Rockhopper Penguin with a hysterical, obsessed look in his red eyes.

"He might be able to answer a few questions about O'Hara," the cat said.

"Okay," Zoey said. "I'm on it." She held the papers under her arm and walked in the direction of her quarters.

"Oh, and Zoey…" the cat said.

Zoey stopped and turned around. "Yes?"

"Be careful with this Buck Rockgut," the cat said. "he tends to… let's say overreact about certain things. Especially don't start talking about red squirrels, and please don't wear anything red."

Zoey frowned. "He's not dangerous, is he?" she asked.

The cat shrugged. "I hope not." Was all he said.


	21. Chapter 20 - Old hero in a sewer

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 20 – Old hero in a sewer.**

…

_Johnson's log._

_I don't know. _

_I just don't know, damn it._

_I had everything ready. I had completely in mind how I was going to make O'Hara pay for what he did. And now this. I am incredibly happy that my old teammates are all alive, and they did well in all those years._

_Rico became an official weapon's expert, and Kowalski got my old rank: first lieutenant. Even young Private has improved his fighting skills, though on the other hand he's still the one who acts like a child in the team._

_I am very happy to see my friends again. So happy that they are a live. _

_And yet I have never felt so horrible. Because now that they are alive, what purpose do I have left? I wanted to avenge my teammates' death, but how can I do that when they are not dead? All my years of planning and research have been for nothing. I don't know what to do with the rest of my life. _

_I think this is going to be my last log entry. Because now that Skipper is alive, I'm no leader anymore. I'm not even first lieutenant, because I didn't want to throw Kowalski from his rightful place. He deserves to be lieutenant. I do not._

_What the heck is even left of my life?_

…

"Rockgut?"

The possum looked at Zoey with a frown. "You mean Buck Rockgut, the famous retired agent."

"Yes, how do you know?" Zoey said.

"Many here have heard of him," the possum said. "But I've never seen him. I actually don't even know what he looks like."

Zoey sighed. "Have you seen this penguin, then?" she asked, showing the possum the picture of Buck Rockgut that she had kept in het bag.

The possum took one look at the picture, and then started laughing. "Sure I have seen him," he said. "he's the old looney who lives in that old, blocked sewer pipe. There's an entrance under the bridge to the village over there. There you'll probably find him."

Zoey put the picture away again. "Thank you." She said, as she walked to the bridge.

Under the bridge was a round door, that was almost half under water. Zoey still managed to get it open and stepped inside a half-dark room.

"Close that door!" a low, hoarse voice said. "The water is getting in."

Zoey obeyed and closed the door. Then she looked at the direction where the voice seemed to be coming from.

"Mr. Rockgut?" she asked.

The penguins that was standing in the corner turned around, and Zoey recognized the old rockhopper penguin with the crazy-looking, red eyes from the picture.

"Special agent Buck Rockgut," the penguin said. "at your service, missy."

Zoey cleared her throat. Till so far, he didn't seem so bad.

"My name is agent Zoey," she said, stepping forward. "I've come…"

She couldn't finish her sentence, because Buck Rockgut was interrupting her.

"Agent, huh?" he said. "agent for what? Evil? So you like evil, right? You know who likes evil, too? The Red Squirrel!"

Zoey frowned. She had been warned not to talk about red squirrels with this person, so she decided to calmly continue her sentence.

"I've come to ask you a few questions, mr. Rockgut." The female Skunk said.

"Questions, huh?" Buck said. "You know who else likes questions? The Red Squirrel!"

Zoey's frown deepened. She was beginning to think that this penguin might be a bit on the crazy side.

"Okay, Mr. Rockgut." Zoey said. "I'm not here to talk about squirrels. This is about a penguin named O'Hara. Have you ever heard of him?"

For a minute, Buck Rockgut was silent and looked at Zoey with an astonished expression. But then his (slightly) paranoid expression returned.

"I do not just tell anything to anyone," He said. "How do I know you can be trusted?"

"As long as you are on the side of Manfredi and Johnson," Zoey said. "I am on your side."

"I don't know any Manfredi or Johnson," Buck said.

"Do you know four penguins called Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private, then?" Zoey asked.

That seemed to ring a bell. "Now you mention it," Buck said. "I do remember folks like that." He thought for a while, then he held up his flipper. "Of course, those were those soldiers that helped me find the Red Squirrel!"

"Oh, shut up about your Red Squirrel!" Zoey snapped at him, annoyed.

She realized she had done something stupid when she saw Buck Rockgut's crazy, widened eyes fixed on her.

"You know who else likes being angry?" he asked.

"The red squirrel?" Zoey guessed, her voice sounding a bit sarcastic.

"THE RED SQUIRREL!" Buck screamed. He looked Zoey straight into the eyes. "I knew it!" he said. "I knew you were his spy. But I've got you now."

Zoey took a step back. "Hey," she said. "calm down, old man. I'm not a spy. I don't even know this red squirrel, or whatever it is."

"You don't fool me," Buck said, taking a few steps forward.

Zoey wasn't sure if she was afraid or just confused. But she certainly didn't feel comfortable. This guy was completely bonkers.

But then her confusion and fear turned into annoyance and she slapped Buck Rockgut in his face, hard.

"And now I've had enough!" she said. "snap out of it!"

Buck blinked a few times, and then looked at Zoey in confusion. "Who are you?" he asked.

Zoey rolled her eyes. "I am agent Zoey Skunk," she said. "I'm helping a few penguins who you probably know, and in order to do that, I'm going to need your help, too."

"You're working with Skipper and his boys?" Buck asked.

Zoey was suddenly silent for a while, and she looked at the old penguin. Didn't he know?

Then she sighed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Rockgut," she said. "Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private have been dead for years."

Buck stared at her with his crazy red eyes, one eyebrow raised. "That's not possible," he said. "they helped me finding the Red Squirrel less than a year ago."

"How long have you been in this sewer exactly?" Zoey asked.

Buck thought for a while, then he replied: "half a year."

"Hm," Zoey said. There was something not right about all this. Buck Rockgut was crazy, but she didn't think he was imagining this. He was telling the truth, she could see that in his eyes. So, either there were four penguins who looked a lot like Skipper and his boys, or Manfredi and Johnson's old teammates were really alive.

But she would have time to think about that later. Right now, she had to think about why she came here: to ask Buck Rockgut about O'Hara.

"Listen, Mr. Rockgut," she said. "I'm really going to need to know how well you know e certain rockhopper penguin called O'Hara."

"O'Hara," Buck said. "How do you know about my cousin?"

Zoey blinked a few times. "What?" she said then. "Cousin?"

Now that was something she wouldn't have expected. Buck Rockgut and O'Hara were cousins?

"He was always the black sheep of the family," Buck explained. "I'm not surprised that he chose to become a criminal."

'O'Hara was the black sheep?' Zoey thought to herself. 'then I'm not sure if I want to know what the rest of the Rockgut family is like.'

"Hey, wait a minute," Zoey said, when she suddenly noticed something strange about this story. "O'Hara's name isn't Rockgut, so how can he be your cousin?"

"He's my first cousin once removed," Buck explained. "from mother's side."

Zoey counted the possibilities on her fingers. "Oh," she said then. "now I get it."

"Well, what has he done this time?" Buck asked.

Zoey sighed. "That's a long story," she said. "but I'll tell you."

They sat down at the table that was in the middle of the room and Zoey started telling her story.

…

"Johnson?"

Johnson knew who it was: it was Manfredi. His old, faithful friend Manfredi.

"Johnson, what are you doing? What is that gun for?"

Johnson sighed. Yes, there he was again. What was he actually doing? He wanted to be dead. He wanted to kill himself. But every time he was so close to actually doing it, something made him stop. He had to choose. Either had was going to do it now, or he would drop the gun that he had in his flippers now and never try to end his life again.

It was a hard decision. Johnson felt like he had nothing left in this life. His goal had been to take revenge for his friends' death. And now that goal was pointless. And so, his life had become pointless. But was it enough to kill himself for?

"Johnson?"

When Johnson heard Manfredi's voice again, he turned around. Manfredi looked at him with worry in his blue eyes.

_Manfredi._ Johnson thought. _I can't leave him. I swore I would protect him, no matter what. And I won't break my promise._

_Rebecca…_

_No, don't think about Rebecca. Think about Manfredi. Rebecca is dead, you can't change that. But Manfredi is still alive, Johnson. And you are the one who has to make sure he actually stays alive. No matter what._

"No matter what," Johnson whispered.

He dropped the gun on the ground. He cleared his throat. "I'm alright, Manfredi," he said. "I was just having… a down moment. But I'm fine now."

Manfredi looked relieved. "Okay then," he said, and he sounded happy again.

To be very honest, Johnson felt relieved too. He felt almost as if he was cured from his morbid thoughts. He knew they would never go away, but he knew he would learn to control them.

He smiled.


	22. Chapter 21 - O'Hara's game

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 21 – O'Hara's game**

…

"Hey, you're coming or what?" Buck Rockgut asked. "You're as soft as a butter cupcake, missy!"

"It's okay if you want me to hurry up," Zoey said, climbing up from the sewer pipe. "But do you really have to insult me the whole time? And why again did we have to travel through the sewer?"

"You can't be too careful," Buck said. "the Red Squirrel has spies everywhere."

Zoey sighed. "We're not here for red squirrels, Mr. Rockgut," she said. "we're here for Manfredi and Johnson. And for Skipper and his team, if what I'm thinking is right and they are still alive after all."

"Of course they're alive," Buck said. "do these eyes look like they can be fooled, missy?"

"A little…" Zoey muttered, but she made sure Buck Rockgut didn't hear her. After all, she didn't want to make Buck believe she was a spy for some red squirrel again. Buck had become a little too paranoid over the years. Zoey just wasn't sure if his paranoia came before or after he lost his sanity.

But no matter what, it was better to be a bit careful around Buck Rockgut. He was a good guy by heart, but he was just insane.

Buck looked around. "This must be New York." He said.

"Obviously," Zoey said, rolling her eyes. She hated being mean, but Buck Rockgut sometimes just annoyed her. But it was only fair, because she annoyed him too.

They left the street and entered central park, in the direction of central park zoo.

Buck had explained that that was where Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private had their HQ the last time he visited. If the team was alive, there was a big chance that Manfredi and Johnson were there too. At least, Zoey hoped so.

For an old penguin like himself, Buck Rockgut could really walk fast. And long, too. Zoey had to admit that she was starting to get tired. But she didn't feel like being insulted with the words 'butter cupcake' or 'pink bowl of sugar' or something like that. (Buck was quite creative with his swears, Zoey gave him that.)

"Are you going to hurry up of what, missy?" Buck asked.

The skunk quickly started to walk faster. "Yes, Mr. Rockgut." She said.

That penguin would fit right in in the army.

…

When Manfredi entered the room and looked around, suddenly everything seemed to be back to the way it was.

Private was sitting in front of the television, watching an episode of his favorite cartoon 'The Lunacorns'. Kowalski was in his lab, but the door was open and Manfredi could see him being busy with one of his inventions. Rico was reading a comic book about explosives. Skipper was walking around with a cup of coffee in his flipper. There was also a fish in the cup, because that was the way Skipper had always wanted his coffee: black and with a fish.

Johnson had started one of his old hobbies again: reading old literature. He was reading a book written by Edgar Allen Poe, with a deep frown on his face.

Everything had been like this before, years ago, before the war. Why was that war again? It had something to do with O'Hara. But Manfredi had never been able to figure out why O'Hara had started that war.

"Manfredi," Private said as he looked over his shoulder. "do you want to watch the Lunacorns, too?"

"Thank you, Private," Manfredi said. "But I'm gonna pass."

He sat down at the table next to Johnson and Rico. The last of those two chuckled at something he read in his magazine. Rico apparently found explosion funny, no matter if they were real or on paper.

Manfredi sighed. He had been very happy the past few days. His old teammates were alive, and even Johnson seemed to cheer up. But last night, Manfredi suddenly couldn't sleep. He had been thinking about Chantal, the cute penguin girl that he met in Antarctica. He was quite sure of it: he was still in love with her. And he missed her.

He hoped that he could go back to Antarctica someday to find Chantal. He just hoped she wouldn't forget him either.

"What's the matter, soldier?" Skipper asked. "what is all that sighing about?"

"Oh, nothing, Skipper," Manfredi said. "I was just… thinking."

"About what, compadre?" Skipper asked.

"Oh, nothing." Manfredi answered quickly.

"About Chantal, I bet," said Johnson, who had apparently been listening even though it looked like he was reading.

Kowalski's head appeared around the corner. "Who's Chantal?" he asked.

"Nobody," Manfredi said, blushing.

"A girl Manfredi met in Antarctica," Johnson said. "apparently he's pretty impressed by her."

"Really?" Private asked.

"I'm quite sure," Johnson said, shrugging.

"You know nothing about it, Johnson," Manfredi said angrily.

Skipper put a flipper on Manfredi's shoulder. "It's okay, soldier." He said. "After all, we've all gone crazy for a lady here once."

"I haven't." Kowalski said proudly.

Skipper looked over his shoulder at the scientist. "Doris the Dolphin?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Kowalski's eyes widened. "Doris…" he muttered. Then he slammed the door closed behind him. Just a few seconds later, they could hear him cry very loud.

"Mwe, he'll be fine," Skipper said.

Manfredi still couldn't help but feel sorry for Kowalski.

At that moment, they heard a familiar voice from above. "Hey, guys! You have visitors."

"That's Marlene." Skipper said.

He stood up and went upstairs to the original penguin habitat. Manfredi, Johnson, Rico and Private followed. And when Kowalski heard what was going on, he joined.

Marlene, the only otter in the whole zoo and a good friend of the penguins, was standing next to the bowl of fish in the small penguin habitat.

"What is it, Marlene?" Skipper asked. "you said we have visitors?"

"Yes," Marlene said, nodding. "that crazy old penguin… what's his name again?"

Skipper and Kowalski gave each other a look. "Buck Rockgut?" Kowalski suggested then.

"Yeah, him," Marlene said. "he's here, and there's some strange skunk girl with him. I don't know who she is."

"Zoey!" Manfredi cried out happily, clapping his flippers.

"They're in my habitat," said Marlene.

…

Not much later, they were in Marlene's habitat. Since she was a female who lived on her own, the room that she had made for herself in her habitat was really very girlish. That was why Buck Rockgut didn't exactly fin in this atmosphere, with that crazed look in his red eyes.

Zoey hadn't been surprised for long after she was introduced to Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. After all, she did already have the feeling that they might have survived.

They were now all sitting in a circle on the floor of Marlene's room.

"What do you have to tell us, miss?" Skipper asked Zoey. "Anything that might interest us?"

"Well, let me start at the beginning," Zoey said. "my master called me back because there was research to be done. He thought that he knew what O'Hara is up to. But in order to continue the research, I needed to ask Buck Rockgut about O'Hara. They are related, you know. O'Hara is Buck's…. what was it again?"

"First cousin once removed from mother's side," Buck Rockgut said.

"Yes, that," Zoey said. "Anyway, thanks to what Buck Rockgut could tell me, we have found out what O'Hara wants from you, Johnson."

Johnson looked at her. "What is it?" was all he asked.

"You found out what O'Hara's evil goal it?" Kowalski asked Zoey.

"Not evil goal," Zoey said. She sighed, and continued. "O'Hara isn't that kind of villain that you are used to, I'm afraid. He's not after conquering the world. He's not after revenge. All he wants is to play a game. He started all this…"

Zoey couldn't help but shiver. She hated O'Hara so much since she knew this.

"… he started all this out of boredom," the skunk continued. "just pure boredom. He was so bored; he decided to make his own, new game. And in this game, he is the spider and you are the fly, Johnson. You were the most important pawn in his game. He hurt you and made sure you would hate him and chase after him. He left you clues so that you would eventually come to him. He actually meant to kill you that time in Antarctica. It was meant to be the final battle. But it went wrong. But I don't think O'Hara will stop his sick game just because of that. He'll try to rebuild it again."

"He never knows when to stop," Buck Rockgut added.

"A game?" Skipper said. "All that misery, the war, everything… all because that darn penguin was bored?"

"He's bonkers," Private said angrily.

"We're not going to let him use us as pawns," Skipper said, jumping on his feet. "we'll get him this time. It's time for an old-fashioned last battle, in which the good guys will win. Like they always do. Right, boys?"

"Yeah!" Rico said.

"Up high!" Skipper said.

As the other penguins all started high-fiving each other, Manfredi turned to Johnson.

"What do you think Joh…" he stopped before he could finish his sentence when he was the look on Johnson's face.

Johnson looked furious. More furious than he had ever been. It was almost as if the dark circles around his ye became much darker, and his flippers were shaking with rage.

"A pawn…" he growled in a low voice. "He used me as a pawn… to play his own little game."

"Johnson…" Manfredi muttered carefully.

Then, a cry of rage was to be heard in the entire Central Park Zoo.


	23. Chapter 22 - New revenge

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 22 – New revenge**

…

"Johnson, calm down!" Manfredi said. He quickly ducked when some random object almost hit his head.

They were back at the HQ under the penguin habitat. Johnson was searching through the weapon's closet, a furious expression on his face.

"Sit down, Johnson," Skipper said. "That's an order!"

Johnson put on his belt, and filled the pockets on his belt with bullets. "You can say anything, Skipper," he said. "you're the commander, you can order anyone around. But you can't stop me now."

He grabbed a gun and put in in his back.

"What are you planning to do?" Kowalski asked. "I thought you were over your insane longing for revenge?"

"Oh yes?!" Johnson said, and he suddenly had a crazy look in his green eye. Almost the same look as Buck Rockgut usually had. "Just watch me, then!"

"Shall I sing a song to calm you down?" Private asked. He had his pink Lunacorn doll in his flippers.

"That's not going to help, Private," Zoey said to him. She kept her voice low so that Johnson couldn't hear it.

"Why are you so angry, Johnson?" Manfredi asked. "What is the matter?"

"He used me," Johnson growled. "O'Hara destroyed my life just because he was bored. He made me into a pawn in his game. And nobody turns me into a pawn. Nobody."

"B-but Johnson," Manfredi said softly. "Our teammates are alive. And O'Hara wasn't the one who killed Rebecca. Why should you be angry? Everything is fine."

"You don't understand!" Johnson screamed. "I have to do this, Manfredi! I have to!"

Manfredi could have sworn he saw tears in Johnson's eye.

"That reminds me of me 48 years ago, when I started hunting the Red Squirrel," Buck Rockgut said.

"Buck," Zoey said to him. "Please, this is not the right time. You can tell about the Red Squirrel later."

"And you caught the Red Squirrel, Buck," Private said. "only a few months ago, remember? We were there, and we helped you."

Buck Rockgut blinked a few times. "That… that's true…" he muttered. "I don't need to be hunting the Red Squirrel anymore."

"See?" Private said. "Then it's solved."

"Now I need to find Penguin Enemy Number Two," Buck Rockgut said. "White Widow, the albino spider monkey!"

"Ugh!" Zoey grunted, facepalming.

"Johnson, wait!" Manfredi said at that moment.

While the other had been paying attention to Buck Rockgut, Johnson has picked up a few more weapons that he could use and he was already climbing the ladder to the habitat above them. He stopped when Manfredi called him.

"You can't go!" Manfredi said. "You'll get killed. O'Hara has too many henchmen."

Johnson jumped on the ground again and put a flipper on Manfredi's shoulder.

"Manfredi," he said. "please stay here. You'll be safe here with the others."

"What?" Manfredi said. "But we're a team, Johnson. If you're going, I'm going too."

"I swore I would keep you safe," Johnson said. "and you won't be safe if you come with me. You must stay here."

He turned around again. But this time, Zoey grabbed his shoulder.

"Johnson…" she said.

Johnson looked at her. "What is it, Zoey?" he asked.

"How on earth are you going to find O'Hara?" Zoey asked. "Do you even have any idea where he is?"

"I've known it for a few days," Johnson said. "only I thought I didn't need to hunt O'Hara anymore. I was wrong. I won't be able to rest before I rid the world of that penguin."

"But how did you find out?" Zoey asked.

"The tracking device you put in the pocket of one of O'Hara's henchmen," Johnson said. "I found out it is still working."

Zoey blinked. "What..?" she stuttered.

"It's quite ironic," Johnson said with a sigh. "He's in the same building as we were many years ago. When Rebecca…" he didn't finish his sentence. He just sighed.

"Johnson..?" Zoey muttered.

Johnson didn't answer anymore. He turned around, and without saying a word he left the HQ, while the other stared at him. Not knowing what to do.

There was a long, painful silence in the HQ. Nobody seemed to know what to do. Even Buck Rockgut, who was usually the one to scream out what he was thinking, was silent and eve seemed to feel uncomfortable.

But then, Manfredi suddenly broke the silence.

"I don't know what you are going to do," he said. "but I'm going after Johnson."

"But why?" Private asked.

"Because he's my friend and I won't let him walk into danger like that." Manfredi said.

To his surprise, Buck Rockgut stepped forward and stood next to him, his flipper on the young penguin's shoulder. "I'm with you, sonny," he said. "A real secret agent won't just stand here and do nothing while another penguin is in danger. And the White Widow can wait. I'll get her later."

"If you're going, we're all going," Skipper said. "No penguin gets left behind, right boys?"

"Yeah!" Rico said.

"I'm in!" Kowlaksi said.

"Yaay!" Private cheered.

Manfredi turned to Zoey. "And you, Zoey?" he asked. "What are you planning to do?"

Zoey smiled at him. "We'll get that O'Hara penguin," she said. "I'm with you."

…

It was cold.

In front of him, there was a huge factory. The factory looked like it had just dropped out of a Tim Burton movie. At was dark and gloomy, and the shadows that could be seen almost looked like monsters. The factory looked like a wild animal that was knelt on the ground, ready to attack whatever was in front of him.

Johnson remembered this factory so well. He had walked this same pavement before. That time, many years ago, Rebecca had been by his side.

"Stay by my side, Rebecca," Johnson whispered softly as he approached the old, deserted factory once again.

He had his gun in his flippers, ready to shoot.

The huge doors were open. Wind was blowing inside.

Johnson had traveled almost all day to reach this factory. It was now dark, which made the whole situation extra spooky.

But he wasn't afraid.

He went inside, and looked around. There was no one to be seen. There was no sound, except for the wind howling through the hallway.

Johnson kept on walking. He opened doors to see what was behind them. But he found nothing of interest.

Eventually, the hallway stopped an there was a door in front of him. A huge door. It was closed.

A shiver went down Johnson's spine. He knew this door, and he knew the room that was behind it. If he would open this door, he would see the large, almost empty room with the high ceiling. The same room as where Rebecca died.

His heart was beating twice as fast. Now the fear suddenly filled his body. He was afraid of what was behind that door. He was afraid of the memories that would come back to him.

He took a deep breath.

_Just do it, Johnson. Just open that darn door. It's only a room, nothing more._

He pushed against the door, and it went open with a shrieking sound. He stepped inside the room, and suddenly it was like he was hit by a huge hammer. Tears filled his eyes.

There it was: that same wall. The wall Rebecca felt against after she was shot. He knew the exact spot she had been laying. The exact spot where she had died.

He ran towards the wall and knelt on the same spot he had knelt so many years ago.

The factory was old and deserted, so nobody had bothered to clean the room.

Johnson knew what the dirt in the wall and the floor was. It was blood. Rebecca's blood still marked the spot where she had died.

"Rebecca…" Johnson whispered.

"Well, well," a voice behind him suddenly said. "you decided to join us after all. Welcome, Johnson. You remember this spot, don't you? I can tell you, I remember it too. I remember it very well. I was standing on that pipe near the ceiling. Do you remember, Johnson? Right up there. Of course, you never knew it was me. The thought didn't cross your mind, did it? That it was I who wore that mask. I who shot that gun?"

Johnson growled as he turned around.

"O'Hara!" he said. "It was you all along!"


	24. Chapter 22 - fight till your last breath

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 23 – Fight till your last breath**

…

"All that time, it was you," Johnson shouted. "Had I known it, I would have killed you years ago!"

"Oh, would you now?" O'Hara said calmly.

Johnson felt an anger rushing through his veins that he had never felt before. He had always hated O'Hara. But right now, he hated him even more. He didn't just want to defeat O'Hara. He didn't just want to kill him. He wanted to tear him apart limp by limp. He wanted to make him suffer the most painful death he could imagine.

But meanwhile, pain stung in his heart like a knife. Rebecca had died here. Right here. By the flippers of this penguin right in front of him. It was all his fault. O'Hara was the one who had made Rebecca's blood flow over this floor.

"You!" Johnson said, almost as if he couldn't believe it. He was furious. But he was also crying. The mix of anger and pain was a heavy weight on his shoulders.

"Yes, haven't you found out yet?" O'Hara said sarcastic.

"So that was it," Johnson growled. "you killed Rebecca only for your sick game. You only killed her to hurt me. Just like you killed Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. Just to turn me into a pawn in your plan."

"Not entirely, Johnson," O'Hara said. "It was just coincidence that you and your little friend -Manfredi, right?- survived that war. It was my original plan to kill you all."

"Well, you failed," Johnson said. "They survived. Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private are alive."

"And yet you're here," O'Hara said. He didn't seem shocked upon hearing that Johnson's old teammates survived. Maybe he already knew before, but Johnson didn't have time to think about that.

"I'm here because nobody turns me into a pawn," Johnson said. He sighed. "And… I'm here for Rebecca."

"Really?" O'Hara said, smirking. "Do you want to know why I killed her? I'm sure it's an interesting story."

Johnson hesitated. He wanted to destroy O'Hara slowly an painfully. But he had to admit, he did want to know why his beloved Rebecca had been killed. He didn't know if it would make him feel any better. But he did want to know.

"I'm sure Rebecca was a pretty little thing," O'Hara said. "but have you ever heard of her mother, Theresa?"

Johnson raised an eyebrow. Actually, he had never thought that Rebecca had a mother. Well, of course he knew she had parents once, but she never actually talked about it. Now he though of it, when Rebecca became his fiancée she also never mentioned her parents. Why had he never asked her about it?

"Yes, I'm sure she didn't like to talk about it," O'Hara said. "well, I can't blame her. After all, she liked to forget that her mother was killed when she was a teenager."

Johnson's green eye widened. "What?!" He said.

Then he growled. "You killed her mother, didn't you?"

O'Hara nodded. "Yes," he said. "you see, back when I was young, me and Theresa were an item."

"You mean a couple?" Johnson said. He felt sick only by the thought of it.

"Indeed," O'Hara said. "It's not like I am not able to like anyone. I did really like Theresa. Kind of the way you liked Rebecca. But she broke her promise to me and married someone else. Of course, she had to be punished. She, her husband, and also that ugly little girl of hers. Rebecca."

Johnson shook his head. "You didn't love Theresa," he said. "Not the way I loved Rebecca. I would never hurt her. If she had married someone else, I'd rather kill myself than ever hurt her or her family. You are insane!"

O'Hara laughed at him mockingly. "Do you really think you are better than me?" he asked. "You tried to kill yourself. You tried to kill me. You spend months planning your revenge. You longed for the day you would finally kill me. Look at yourself, Johnson. Are you really such a good penguin?"

Johnson looked at the ground. O'Hara was right. He was not a good person. He was just as insane and dark as O'Hara was. But in a different way.

He looked up again. Yes, he was crazy. He was everything but good. He indeed longed for revenge. He wasn't afraid to kill.

But he was not like O'Hara.

"That is enough blabbering," Johnson said, grabbing his gun. "O'Hara, you are going down!"

He pointed his gun at the rockhopper penguin, ready to shoot. But at that moment, Valerio and Otto appeared behind Johnson. He turned around to defend himself, but he was hit by Otto's flipper. The large penguin appeared to be very strong, because Johnson was thrown on the ground. His gun flew out of his flippers. He tried to catch it, but Valerio was quicker. He grabbed the gun and gave it to Otto who simply broke it in two halves.

"Let's make this a fair fight, Johnson," O'Hara said. "flipper to flipper."

Otto and Valerio both took a step back.

Johnson slowly stood up. But before he was prepared, O'Hara raised a flipper and hit him.

Johnson fell to the ground again. O'Hara's foot kicked him in the stomach.

"I expected more from you, Johnson," O'Hara said. "don't forget that I killed your precious little Rebecca."

Johnson growled as he looked up at O'Hara with nothing but hate in his single green eye. "Mark my words, O'Hara," he snarled. "I will make you pay. I'll tear you apart, limp by limp!"

He jumped up and charged.

…

"This way!" Skipper said.

They were running through the huge hallway of the factory.

"How do you know where they are?" Zoey asked the penguin commander.

"I just figure that they will be in the same room as Rebecca was killed." Skipper said. "It's a cliché."

"I hope Johnson is alright," Manfredi said.

"He'll manage on his own for a while," Skipper replied shortly.

They heard a scream. For a minute they all stopped to listen to it.

"Was that Johnson or O'Hara?" Zoey said. "If it's Johnson, we really have to hurry."

"Only one way to find out," Skipper said. "let's move!"

They continued running as fast as they could. They arrived at the last door. They didn't stop to ask any questions. Skipper just kicked the door open and they stormed into the room.

"Johnson!" Manfredi cried out.

Johnson looked over his shoulder. His eye widened. "Manfredi!" he said.

He ran towards his young friend, and slapped him in the face hard.

"Ouch!" Manfredi said. "Johnson, what was that for?"

Johnson grabbed Manfredi's shoulders. "I told you to stay home, you idiot!" he shouted right in Manfredi's face. "I told you to stay where you were so that you could be safe. How could you just run away like this? After everything I've done to keep you safe! You ungrateful little.."

"Johnson!"

Johnson looked over Manfredi's shoulder and saw Zoey.

"Zoey, you too?" he said. "what are you all doing here?"

"Help you, of course," Skipper said. "penguins stick together, right boys? Well, and girl of course."

"You know that no penguin gets left behind," Buck Rockgut said, stepping forward. "even if that penguin is a crazy little creep."

"Hear who's talking," Zoey said.

"Oh, if it isn't Buck Rockgut," O'Hara said. "my crazy cousin once removed. What a coincidence. But I know how to get rid of you."

"Oh yeah?" Buck said. "You're no match for the number one American penguin hero!"

"But the red squirrel is," O'Hara said.

Buck's red eyes widened. "Red Squirrel?" he said. "where?!"

"There!" O'Hara said, pointing at the door. "Go and get him."

"Red Squirrel!" Buck Rockgut shouted as he ran off. The others looked at him as he ran through the hallway and disappeared.

"I can't believe he fell for that," Skipper said.

"And as for you and your team, Skipper," O'Hara said. He smiled. "Get them, boys."

Otto, Valerio and a few other penguins who appeared out of the shadows immediately attacked Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, Private, Manfredi and also Zoey.

While the team was trying to fight off the enemies, O'Hara turned to Johnson again.

"So, Johnson," he said. "now we can finally end this properly."

Johnson didn't say anything. He attacked O'Hara. His flipper hit the penguin's face, and O'Hara took a few steps back. Then he attacked Johnson. His flipper hit Johnson's head and then his stomach. The one eyed penguin gasped for breath, took a few steps back, recovered an charged again.

At that moment, Manfredi and Skipper were both able to fight off their enemies. They ran forward to help Johnson. Johnson's foot hit O'Hara's head and the rockhopper penguin was thrown back against the wall. Johnson landed on two feet in front of him.

Manfredi stopped running for a second. But Skipper didn't stop.

O'Hara jumped up and tossed Johnson aside. The one eyed penguin fell on the ground.

O'Hara turned to Skipper. The penguin leader charged, but O'Hara was able to dodge and Skipper hit the ground next to him. "Ouch!"

"Skipper!" Manfredi said. He walked towards the leader to help him. He didn't pay attention to O'Hara.

The rockhopper penguin picked up a gun that one of his henchmen had lost from the ground. It was loaded. He took it in both his flippers and pointed it at the young penguin.

"Manfredi!"

Johnson's cry was to be heard in the whole factory.

Next moment, it was almost as if everything happened in slow motion. Manfredi could see exactly what was happening. Every second of it.

O'Hara pulled the trigger. The bullet flew towards Manfredi. At the same moment as that happened, Johnson jumped forward. He pushed Manfredi aside.

And the bullet hit him right in his stomach, making him fly backwards and hit the wall.


	25. Chapter 24 - Keep holding on

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Chapter 24 – Keep holding on.**

…

"Johnson!"

Suddenly, it was as if time stopped.

Skipper's expression was one of pure shock as he looked at the one eyed penguin. Even O'Hara seemed shocked, as if he couldn't believe what he had done. As if he hadn't planned all of this.

Manfredi was the only one who moved. He jumped up and ran to his old friend and kneeled next to him.

"Johnson?"

Johnson's belly and chest were covered with blood. It slowly began to drip on the floor, covering the dirt that was left of Rebecca's blood, who had died on that very spot.

The one eyed penguin coughed. Blood came out of his beak as he did that.

Manfredi shook his head. "No…" he said, his eyes wide with shock. "Johnson…. Why did you do that?"

Johnson opened his single eye and looked at his young friend.

"Manfredi."

His voice was weak and croaky. As he spoke, more blood came out of his throat. His breathing was hoarse. There was blood in his lungs.

Tears filled Manfredi's eyes.

"Manfredi…" Johnson had difficulty speaking. As more blood covered the floor, his life was slowly flowing away. "Get out of here."

"What?" Manfredi said.

"Please, Manfredi…" Johnson whispered. "Go. Make sure you're safe."

"No!" Manfredi cried out. "I won't leave you!"

"I want you to be safe, Manfredi," Johnson said, his voice weak. "I swore I would keep you safe. No matter if it would kill me. Please, leave this place."

"How do you expect me to go on like this, Johnson?" Manfredi cried out. He looked at the blood that covered the floor. "This is all my fault." He sobbed.

Johnson grabbed his flipper. "No!" he said. His hoarse voice sounded louder now. "I won't allow you to think like that. Don't become like me, Manfredi. Please… please… keep holding on. You'll be allright."

But Manfredi shook his head wildly. "No!" he said. "No, I won't be alright. You can't die, Johnson, I need you. You're my best friend. You're like a brother to me."

Johnson coughed again. Blood was slowly filling up his lungs with every breath he took. He couldn't hold on much longer. He had to let go eventually. He had to stop struggling to stay alive.

"Manfredi, listen to me," he whispered. "I'm giving up my life to safe yours. This is my choice. You deserve to live, far more than I. Manfredi, brother… promise me you'll stay alive. That's all I'm asking."

Manfredi swallowed a lump in his throat. His eyes were wet with tears. He held Johnson's flipper tightly. Slowly he nodded.

"Y-yes, Johnson," he stuttered. "I'll stay alive."

Johnson smiled weakly. Then he turned his head and looked up at the ceiling. There was the pipe O'Hara had been standing on when he shot Rebecca.

This was the place. At this very spot where he was now waiting for death to come for him, his beloved Rebecca had done that same thing. Only she hadn't lived long enough to say goodbye.

He wanted to take one more breath, but thick, red blood blocked his lungs.

"Re… Reb…" he stammered.

"What?" Manfredi said. "What is it, Johnson?"

But he saw that Johnson wasn't talking to him. The one eyed penguin was looking up at the ceiling, seeing something that the others couldn't see. And for a moment, Manfredi saw happiness in his green eye.

"Rebecca…" he whispered so softly that Manfredi almost couldn't hear it.

"Johnson?" Manfredi said. He shook is head. "No…"

Johnson's eye closed slowly. He stopped moving. Manfredi could feel power flowing out of the flipper that he was holding.

The whole room was silent. They all looked at Manfredi and Johnson, forgetting to fight.

Kowalski was the first one to move. He carefully walked up to the two penguins, and kneeled next to Johnson. He checked the one eyed penguin's pulse. Then he shook his head.

"He's gone." He whispered.

Manfredi started sobbing.

Zoey's eyes were wide with shock. "Oh…" she said. She covered her mouth with both her hands, slowly shaking her head.

Skipper looked down at the ground sadly. Even his eyes were filled with tears.

There was a long, painful silence in the room. Even O'Hara and his henchmen didn't say a word.

Manfredi held Johnson's flipper tightly, afraid to let go. He didn't dare to open his eyes. He was afraid he would feel more hurt if he saw Johnson's face now.

He was dead. His good friend Johnson, who he had always looked up to, who had been like a big brother to him, who had always protected him. He was gone forever.

And… it was all O'Hara's fault.

Manfredi looked up. There was an anger in his eyes that had never been seen before. He finally let go of Johnson's flipper. It fell next to Johnson's limp body, right in the one eyed penguin's blood, that had finally stopped flowing out of his body as his heart had stopped beating.

Manfredi stood up. The expression on his face never changed. All he could think of was Johnson's death. And who had been the one to shoot that gun? Who was responsible for Johnson's death? Manfredi now knew it wasn't him. And it wasn't Johnson himself. It was O'Hara.

O'Hara had destroyed Johnson's life on purpose. Just for fun. And now he had killed him.

But did he really think he would get away with it? The thought of that almost made Manfredi laugh.

Oh no. O'Hara wouldn't escape. Not this time. Manfredi would make sure of that.

Skipper finally looked up, as if he could feel something was wrong.

And as he looked up, he could see Manfredi had stood up with a hateful expression on his face. The young penguin was walking across the room, in the direction of O'Hara.

Skipper suddenly knew something bad was going to happen.

"Manfredi…" he said.

Kowalski now looked up too, and saw the same thing as Skipper did. And he too had a bad feeling about this. But still he didn't move. He didn't stand up to stop Manfredi.

"Manfredi?"

As Manfredi walked, he picked up a knife that someone had dropped on the ground. It was probably Rico's. The knife was almost big enough to be a sword for Manfredi.

"Manfredi!"

Skipper's voice echoed through the room. Everyone looked up, but nobody moved as they watched what happened.

O'Hara looked up too. His eyes grew wide with shock. Manfredi ran and jumped, swinging the knife high in the air. O'Hara never moved. He just stood there. As if he was petrified. His eyes filled with shock, he looked at Manfredi jumping towards him.

Ten, there was a flash of steel. The horrible sound of something cutting through flesh. Spatters of blood.

O'Hara's head rolled over the ground.


	26. Epilogue

**Manfredi and Johnson.**

**Epilogue.**

…

Skipper cleared his throat.

"Men," he said. "We are gathered here today to honor the memory of our teammate and friend Johnson. He died in honor. Even though he was a bit demented, I'm sure that we will always remember him as the great soldier…. And friend that he actually was. And…"

Skipper stopped to blow his nose. Then he continued. "And… even though I don't believe in the supernatural, I think that Johnson and Rebecca… might finally be together now. Wherever they are."

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. Then he turned to Rico.

"Rico," he said. "Three-volley salute to honor him."

Rico nodded. He fired the cannon that was next to him three times. (They didn't have any guns left to do it with.)

Next, Buck Rockgut and Skipper both took a shovel and shrew earth in the hole in the ground that was Johnson's grave. It didn't take long until there was nothing to be seen of the coffin that Kowalski had made to put Johnson's body in. They couldn't bring themselves to just burry him without any coffin. It would seem disrespectful.

When the hole was filled, they put down a simple stone to mark the spot. Someone had been able to put Johnson's name on it. Manfredi wasn't sure who it was.

After seeing what happened to O'Hara, the henchmen hadn't stayed long. When they saw what Manfredi, who always seemed like the weak, innocent penguin, had done to their leader they decided to run away. Even Otto ran off like a coward. However, he had the misfortune of meeting an angry Buck Rockgut on his way out. Buck, angry because he didn't find the Red Squirrel, had used the large penguin to cool down his anger. When Otto could finally get away, he was covered with bumps and bruises, and his beak was bleeding.

Manfredi had later been ashamed of what he had done. He couldn't believe he had just killed someone. Was he really that horrible?

But even though his team had been shocked at first, they later told him that he had done the right thing. One time or another, someone had to kill O'Hara anyway. He was too dangerous to just let him wander around the earth. It had been best to just get rid of him.

They hadn't touched what was left of O'Hara. They just left it there in the deserted factory. Nobody was interested in giving him a proper funeral.

Manfredi looked at the spot where Johnson had just been buried. He still felt sad. He still could cry. But he wasn't restless like Johnson had been when his friends died.

He knew that Johnson could finally rest in piece now. And that he could be with the person he had always loved with all hi heart: Rebecca.

And Manfredi was planning to keep his promise to Johnson. He would make sure he stayed alive until he was an old penguin and his time was really up. But that would be many, many years from now.

Zoey stood next to him, he suddenly noticed. She too looked at Johnson's grave.

"You know…" she said to Manfredi. "I have never met anyone quite like Johnson before. He was one of a kind."

Manfredi nodded. "Yes he was, Zoey." He said.

"I just wish I had the chance to get to know him as well as you did," Zoey said.

Manfredi smiled. "You did know him, Zoey," he said. "you knew him very well. Don't worry about that."

Zoey smiled weakly. "Thanks, Manfredi." she said.

Manfredi was almost surprised to see how upset she was about Johnson's death. It seemed now that she had cared for Johnson a lot.

Manfredi felt a flipper on his shoulder. He turned around to see Skipper standing next to him.

"Well, Manfredi," he said. "It seems like we've got a fourth member of our unit… again. We'll just have to find a good rank for you. You deserve to be more than just a second-class soldier."

Manfredi smiled and shook his head. "That is very kind for you, Skipper," he said. "but I think I've had enough of all this war and spy stuff for the rest of my life."

"What?" Skipper said, surprised at this unexpected reply.

"I have other plans," Manfredi said. "I'm going to Antarctica. To find Chantal. Maybe… even settle down and have a family. But no more fighting for me. I want to lead a more… simple life from now on."

Skipper blinked. "Oh…" he said. "well, that is your choice, then. But would you ever change your mind… you're always welcome in our unit."

"Thank you, Skipper," Manfredi said.

"Then, I wish you good luck with finding your girl," Skipper said. He still seemed a bit confused about Manfredi's decision.

Now Kowalski stepped forward. He had a tape recorder in his flippers.

"I thought you should have this, Manfredi," he said. "I fixed it for you. It's a gift."

Manfredi took the recorder, and almost felt like crying when he saw it.

"And this goes with it," Kowalski said, as he gave Manfredi some cassettes with small etiquettes with a familiar handwriting on it.

Manfredi smiled.

"Thank you, Kowalski." He said.

…

A few hours later, in the plane southwards to Antarctica, Manfredi took the tape recorder and one of the cassettes out of his bag. He put the cassette in the recorder, and pushed the 'play' button.

He smiled as a familiar voice came out of the device.

.

_Johnson's log._

_Our journey is continuing southwards. My first guess about where the ice landscape on O'Hara's picture can be is on Antartica. It's just a guess, but there's nothing else I can do._

_Tilly is still with us. After the strange conversation that I had with her a few days ago, she has returned to her normal self….._

….

.

**The end.**

**...**

**...**

**Well, that was it.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this fan fiction. I want to thank**

**you for reading it, and also thank you for your reviews. **

**As you may have already guessed, there will not be a **

**sequel to this story. It is over. **

**I'm also not sure if I will be writing another Penguins of**

**Madagascar fanfic. (I'm not exactly good at keeping all of**

**the Penguins in character.) But I'll just wait and see.**

**My next fanfiction will be a sequel to my Ice Age fanfic**

**'The Underworld'. I will probably post the first chapter**

**very soon. **

**I also have plans for a Beetlejuice fanfiction. But I'm**

**still working on that.**

**Again, thanks for reading. And I hope you will read more**

**of my fanfictions.**

**Snowy Stoat.**


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